Today’s Grand Cru hails from Aÿ, a village historically and overwhelmingly planted to Pinot Noir, but because the Chiquets have fastidiously clung to their small trove of Chardonnay for generations, they’ve harnessed its earth-shattering profundity and richness. This soaring bottle is also among the most age-worthy values on the market–none other than Champagne mastermind Peter Liem wrote about enjoying the “expansive and exotically toned 1964” and “sublime 1953.” This master craftsmanship isn’t by chance: The Chiquets have been farming vines since 1746 and were among the very first to escape the clutches of the all-powerful Champagne Houses in 1919 by harvesting, bottling, and selling their own wine. A rare Blanc de Blancs in a Pinot-dominate Grand Cru terroir, from an “OG” grower-producer, that can age for generations? Most estates would be charging triple digits, but at Gaston-Chiquet you get all that for what most grocery stores charge for the mass produced “yellow label!”
BONUS: We have two, yes just two, six-packs of Magnums. The pricing is sharp, and these beauties are even better for aging than the regular size bottles. Seriously, they will go forever! Click HERE before they’re gone.
Champagne Gaston Chiquet has a history that spans eight generations—with the ninth in training—and has continuously farmed the vines of Champagne since 1746. Currently run by brothers Nicolas and Antoine, Champagne Gaston Chiquet now comprises 23 hectares (quite large by grower-producer standards) that are all located within Premier Cru and Grand Cru villages. Although they cultivate all three noble grapes—Chardonnay, Meunier, and Pinot Noir—today’s flagship cuvée focuses entirely on Chardonnay in Grand Cru Aÿ, a village planted to nearly 92% red grapes.
Although it’s trendy for many growers, you won’t find a single oak barrel at Gaston Chiquet. They firmly believe in letting the purity of fruit shine through, and when it comes to the luxurious results of their Chardonnay in Aÿ, it’s impossible to disagree. Today’s wine comes entirely from the 2020 harvest. The grapes were manually harvested parcel by parcel and transported to their winery in small, breathable crates. Following alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, the wine was bottled in the spring of 2021, where it aged on lees until disgorgement in the summer of 2024. It was given a very light three-gram dosage.
By now, it probably goes without saying that Chiquet’s “Blanc de Blancs d’Aÿ” benefits from extended maturation, so the fact that it spent over three years on lees and has now been in bottle for 6+ months since disgorgement should make you all the more excited. While it is indeed in a beautiful drinking window now, I urge you to conduct your own simple experiment by storing a few bottles in your dark, cold, humid basement and cordoning off that area for several years.
The wine pours a deep yellow with flashes of silver and green and immediately unleashes the intensity, vinosity, and richness of Grand Cru Chardonnay from Aÿ. It delivers a mouthwatering spread of pineapple, white peach, citrus blossoms, nectarine, pink grapefruit, lemon cream, brioche, roasted nuts, fresh white flowers, crushed chalk, and a touch of honey. Compared to the nervy, laser-beam, mineral-packed Chardonnay bottlings from the Côte des Blancs, this is a plush, texturally broad, hedonistic crowd-pleaser loaded with flavor—I find it nearly impossible to make enemies with anyone’s palate. Enjoy in Burgundy stems around 50 degrees and, remember, do your best to hold onto your remaining bottles
