Style: Rose Champagne
Vintage: NV
ABV: 12.5%
Region: Champagne
Country: France
Varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir
Pairing Ideas: A leisurely weekend morning brunch with smoked salmon, crème fraîche and capers on toast. The requisite side of our hero the potato chip is great for snacking & sipping.
Nicolas Chiquet farms 23 hectares in the Valle de la Marne in the villages of Ay, Dizy, Hautvillers and Mareuil-sur-Ay. All of the fruit (including that which is used in the non-vintage cuvee) comes from premier and grand cru grapes. Nicolas does not employ any oak aging at Gaston Chiquet; he believes that concentration, fruit maturity and malolactic fermentation impart enough body and texture to make aging in barrel unnecessary.
The vineyards are planted to equal (forty percent each) parts chardonnay, pinot meunier and twenty percent are planted to pinot noir. Gaston-Chiquet also produces a vintage dated chardonnay from 5 parcels on the western side of the grand cru village of Ay. Usually recognized as a grand cru village for pinot noir, these vines of chardonnay were planted in Ay in the 1930s.