2013 Gaston Chiquet Blanc de Blancs d'Aÿ Réserve, Grand Cru, Brut

Brut denotes a dry style of Champagne (less than 15 grams per litre). Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend from different years. The non-vintage blend is always based predominately on wines made from the current harvest, enriched with aged wines from earlier harvests, which impart an additional level of complexity to the end wine.

Gaston Chiquet, a récoltant-manipulant from the Champagne region, originally worked as a grape grower. However, in the 1910s, he began making Champagne using grapes from his own vineyards. The ""Gaston Chiquet"" brand itself was established in 1935, but the release of their wines was delayed until the 1970s and 1980s as they expanded their vineyard holdings.

Today, they own a total of 23 hectares of vineyards in three exceptional villages in the Vallée de la Marne region: Aÿ, Dizy, and Oiry. Their vineyards are composed of 50% Chardonnay, 30% Meunier, and 20% Pinot Noir. In response to climate change, they have reduced the amount of Meunier, which is particularly susceptible to its effects, and have carefully replanted with Chardonnay. In the vineyards, they are working on higher-density planting in order to reduce yields and improve quality. In Dizy, where the soil is rich, they expose the vine roots to competition in a harsh environment by planting grass between each row, and they meticulously monitor the weather to reduce the use of copper sprays, keeping the spraying to a minimum. These diligent efforts have earned them two environmental certifications in 2015 after undergoing 125 inspections: HVE (High Environmental Value) and Sustainable Viticulture in Champagne.

Currently, their annual production is only 15,000 cases. However, the fact that their Brut Tradition cuvée was used at the 2013 Nobel Prize banquet speaks to the high quality of their wines. The wine boasts fresh, vibrant fruit flavors, exceptional purity, remarkable elegance, and structure, rivaling even more expensive Champagnes in terms of quality.

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.

Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.

Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.