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Over the centuries the French region of Champagne has been the scene of some bloody battles. Cemeteries filled with British and Commonwealth soldiers are a poignant reminder of the tragic battles of the Marne in the First World War. Nowadays the rolling chalk hillsides provide the background for battles which tend to be more of the commercial kind, as the great brands, mainly based in Rheims and Epernay, fight for their share of the home and export markets.
There is one Champagne house that observers think has been underperforming in that respect. The Sleeping Beauty is Charles Heidsieck. This is puzzling, given a long, distinguished history of supplying Russian Tsars and nineteenth century European aristocracy, coupled with the fact that the first Charles (Charles-Camille, to be correct) was the original Champagne Charlie. By all accounts he was a rather daring man, who opened up the American market in the mid 1850s and was celebrated in song for doing so.
Stranger still, this is the company whose wine-maker is much revered by those in the know. Regis Camus has an air of authority; if he were your headmaster, you wouldn’t want to turn in a shoddy essay. He has a reputation for being a perfectionist, keeping close tabs on everything from overseeing work in the vines, to selection of grapes, and every step of the winemaking. He consistently wins awards, most recently London’s International Wine Challenge Sparkling Winemaker of the Year, 2011 (for the sixth time).
But this pursuit of quality has not been matched by effective commercial distribution. Until recently the company has been owned by Remy Cointreau, which was perhaps better at placing Cognac and liqueurs in the global market, than nurturing the sales of a top quality Champagne. If ever a sleeping beauty needed rescuing, this one did.
Enter the necessary prince. Of course he has to be tall, dark and handsome, but more to the point, Christopher Descours is President of EPI, a French family controlled investment fund specializing in the high end luxury sector. 38 years old, quiet, discreet – what the French describe as “tres low-key” – he has a close-knit team around him who seem to be rather good at spotting underperforming companies and giving them new life. In the portfolio are firms known for traditional French skills, amongst them chic shoe makers, elegant shirtmakers, smart childrens’ clothes, and a wine and olive growing property in the Luberon region of France. Given this, what difference will Charles Heidsieck’s new owner make? A new President and a Director General have been appointed. In the cutting edge, modern winery in Rheims there seems to be an atmosphere of optimism and barely suppressed excitement as they prepare to bring the wines to a wider market.
Remy Cointreau never stinted - visible proof is the impressive cuverie – in giving Regis Camus his head to make excellent wines. Most importantly, he has always been able to keep some of them in reserves. In such a northerly region some harvests are not very ripe; in this case the production needs to be blended with wines from riper years. A really great Champagne house has deep reserves on which it can call.
Last December, in the smart tasting room with its tall stools - as tricky for a woman in a straight skirt to climb onto as in many New York drinking establishments – Regis Camus demonstrated the depth and range of his wines.
It was an eye-opener to taste the constituent parts of what ultimately make the finished blends. He started with the just fermented 2011 vintage, which they made from grapes coming from 320 different sites. These included little known villages and famous names like Ambonnay, Oger or Ay, which were strikingly varied. Later, tasting these same wines from 2004 and 2002 showed how long maturation adds massive complexity. We had moved onto reserve wines from older vintages, which are held in stainless steel vats until needed. Three different vintages from Cramant on the Cote des Blancs followed:1998 was spicy, intense and a bit austere,97 was more openly fruity with mineral aftertaste, the 96 was charmingly fruity and floral.
Finally, we tasted examples of finished blends. The CH Brut, their entry-level cuvee, is approximately 60 per cent from the 2006 vintage, the balance being made up with reserve wines. It was intense and rich, the nose smelling of apricots and evoking a French boulangerie with freshly baked brioches and croissants; on the palate it seemed smooth and complete –a French taster inexplicably called it “tres cosy”, an adjective I have never previously associated with Champagne. “Nos Bruts doivent etre irreprochable” (Our Bruts must be irreproachable), said Regis sternly.
We moved onto a pure Vintage cuvee, Blanc des Millenaires 1995 (100 per cent Chardonnay), which, happily, is their current Vintage on release. The nose had wonderful freshness combined with mature chardonnay character; the palate had great purity, freshness and length. Appreciative silence reigned in the room. “1995 is the great year, and the prettiest, of the decade,” said Regis. No-one disagreed.
In a backstreet of Rheims is a locked gate. Behind it is the park, rather gloomy in the December dusk, where the unassuming entrance to the “crayeres” which belong to Charles Heidsieck is found. These gallo-roman chalk pits, excavated to create building materials in the city’s first hey-day, are a crucial factor in the process of fine-wine making here. Deep underground, kilometers of passages and storage space provide the perfect environment for ageing in bottle. There is a constant temperature of 10- 12 degrees centigrade, and humidity of 70 – 80 per cent. Ownership of this astonishing asset is split between five of the most famous Champagne houses.
If we felt like Alice in Wonderful falling down the rabbit hole as our guide indicated the entry down a narrow stone staircase in the garden, we were soon reflecting on various murder mystery plots. It was prudent to stick together and not lose sight of the leader – it’s a spooky maze down there. Just the sort of place, in fact, where a sleeping beauty might be incarcerated.
Surrounded by bottles, we found ourselves in a soaring space known as “la Chapelle”. No altar, more of a bar to lean on in the middle, where we were invited to choose a vintage. Had a magic wand been waved? It seemed like it, as we tasted, or rather drank, savoured and frankly enjoyed, 1982 Charles Heidsieck Vintage (disgorged 2000), and 1979 Champagne Charlie, the first vintage made of only five under this label. Cool and humid though it was, we were loathe to leave, but when we did we were in the mood to believe that this fairy story has a happy ending.
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