From the moment Dom Pérignon laid down his first batch of bubbles in the fabled fields of Reims, champagne has been ingrained in the culture of France. An art shrouded in heritage and backed by tradition, some 1,300 years later, we’re still playing by many of the enigmatic monk’s original rules, only now, winemakers are allowed to get a little experimental. The birth of new-age cellars and boutique providers has given way to a new scene, inspiring some of the most revered labels in the world to try something new. For Benoît Gouez, the man behind Moët & Chandon, that meant going against hundreds of years of history to answer one simple question – Can you really age champagne for over 20 years?
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Moët & Chandon Chef de Caves Benoît Gouez | Image: Moët & Chandon
As Chef de Caves of arguably the world’s best-loved producer, Gouez is more than adept at traversing the intricate world of bubbles. For over 25 years, he has overseen the cultivation and collection of fruit, serving as the direct conduit between grape and vintage. In 2023, his legacy finally reaches fruition.
For Moët & Chandon’s latest Grand Vintage collection, Gouez has selected three champagnes, each encapsulating a unique time period and terroir that has defined the cellar master’s incredible career. Grand Vintage 2015, Grand Vintage Collection 2006 and the impossibly long-aged Grand Vintage Collection 1999 are said to “narrate the story of the passage of time”, exploring a common luminous experience that Gouez describes as one-of-a-kind.
Image: Moët & Chandon
“Each Grand Vintage is my interpretation of a specific year, and as such, is unique,” Gouez said. “This trilogy is composed of a Grand Vintage and two Grand Vintage Collection champagnes, all different, but products of relatively similar climatic conditions, forming a one-of-a-kind trio to tell their shared Tale of Light.”
Looking more specifically, the Grand Vintage 2015, aptly titled Luminous Morning, is crafted using a dominant blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and heavy Meunier. The result is a tender and ripe champagne that embodies the mild winter/warm spring nature of the 2015 vintage. The youngest in the trilogy, Gouez describes the Grand Vintage 2015 as a “sweet awakening in nature, enveloped by an intense dawn light”.
Grand Vintage 2015 Luminous Morning | Image: Moët & Chandon
From there, the Grand Vintage Collection 2006, Dazzling Zenith, is highlighted by a ‘smoky, full-bodied, and stretched’ profile that typified 2006’s cold winter, frosty spring, and intermittent heat waves. This Grand Vintage was then aged in cellars for 15 years before disgorgement in 2022, making it a warm and vibrant release that feels best suited to a warm afternoon.
Finally, Grand Vintage Collection 1999, Vibrant Twilight, tells the story of the final harvest of the millennium. Described as a warm, powerful and generous champagne, this vintage is the product of an erratically cold and wet winter, a warm spring, and a tropical end of summer. Incredibly, this Vintage champagne was aged for 21 years in Moët & Chandon’s cellars until its disgorgement in 2022.
Grand Vintage Collection 1999, Vibrant Twilight | Image: Moët & Chandon
Remarkably, Gouez has overseen the creation of all three Great Vintages in his time as cellar master, a feat nearly unsurpassed in Moët’s 180-year history. The maison traditionally matures its Grand Vintages for around seven years on the lees with a crown cap seal, before the first disgorgement of a particular vintage is declared by the Cellar Master. The premier release in the Moët & Chandon lineup, only 76 of these collections have ever been released. The Grand Vintage collection takes things a step further.
These wines are matured for a minimum of 14 years in the cellars on a cork closure and are the second disgorgement of a previously released Grand Vintage. While that might sound like gobbledygook to most people, the simple explanation is that any Moët & Chandon bottle that bears the Grand Vintage collection label is the best of the best, as selected by the cellar master himself. Less than 1,000 collections will be available worldwide, with the Tale of Light Trilogy arriving on Australian shores in a beautiful collectable wooden case from late 2023.
Buy Moët & Chandon’s ‘Tale of Light’ Vintages
Tale of Light’ Grand Vintage collection | Image: Moët & Chandon
Image: Moët & Chandon
