Gardet Brut Tradition
Type: Champagne
Country: France
Region: Champagne
Code: GARD165
This wine, made from 90% black grapes from across the entire Champagne region, is a perfect representation of its origins. A model non-vintage Brut, emblematic of the Gardet House, with the savoir-faire to preserve its style and maintain the mark left by the history of the house. And, it is incredibly, wonderfully, richly, divinely good!

Specification

Producer

Champagne Gardet

Gardet was established in 1895 by Charles Gardet in Epernay. In the 1930s, his son, Georges Gardet, continued the family tradition by moving to Chigny-les-Roses to develop the Champagne Gardet brand. It was sold to the Prieux family in 2007. The Prieuxs have invested in the business, but wisely retained the features of the style of wine made over the years, only slightly refining it to be a little more forward-drinking with more fruit freshness and balance. The house owns around 7 ha of premier cru vineyards around their home villages of Chigny-Les-Roses, Ludes and Rilly la Montage. The long tirage time and the use of a high proportion of reserve wine has marked the house style, and in fact is a distinguishing feature of Champagne Gardet.

Tasting Notes

Altogether fresh on the nose, the palate fills and richens with every sip, a sign of the extra mature wines added - the palate grows in the glass and seems more expressive and elegant, with a full-bodied consistency, fine acidity and a balance between creamy roasted nut and brioche flavours and bold, steely acidity.

Food Matches

Perfect as a simple aperitif, or with classy canapes that have depth of flavour and spice. Perhaps even Asian cuisine - not too spicy, mind!

Vinification

Brut Tradition is a “non-vintage”, the House’s know-how consists in offering a constant style and quality by reaching the perfect balance between the year’s wines and a collection of reserve wines kept for this purpose. 70% consists of their main harvest, whereas 30% is their reserve wine. Made from 90% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, with 10% Chardonnay added to give freshness and complexity from grapes selected across 20 villages across the whole AOC Champagne area. The grapes are hand-picked and carefully sorted on their triage table, before pressing; only the juice from the first and second light pressings are used. The wine is then fermented in stainless steel tanks using natural yeasts, which allows an expression of the terroir the grapes were grown in which contributes to the specific vineyard's essence in the resulting wine. The juice is then transferred into its bottle where it is fermented using the classic method – Méthode Champenoise. The secondary fermentation uses inoculated yeasts, natural sugars and some reserve wines to add complexity and depth. This process happens for approximately 24 months in the cool dark cellars of Maison Gardet, before disgorgement, with a minimum of 3 months before release. A dosage of approximately eight grams of sugar is added.

Press Comments

Wine Merchant Top 100 2023, Highly Commended. Silver Medal, Decanter World Wine Awards 2022, 92 points. Wine Spectator: 90/100points. Jancis Robinson: 16/20 points "very finely textured bubbles, like lace laid over silk". Decanter, December 2020, 91 points "A classic aromatic nose of almond, peach and nut kernels. Expressive and smooth palate with similar notes and well-rounded freshness with firm citric grip." Sunday Express S Magazine, May 2022: "A blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, this is fresh and lively with hints of cherries and lemon as well as a twist of marzipan."

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