Technical Specifications
Total Acidity 7 g/L
Region Champagne
Harvest Dates September 12
Brix at Harvest 11.0°
Sites Avize (50%), Chouilly (–%), Dizy (35%), Ay (15%), Mareuil/Ay (–%)
Fermentation Vessels Oak Cask
Bottling Date June 2003
Production Volume 35,280 bottles
Bottles35,280
Magnums1,508
Production Details 2002 was a year of nearly ideal weather conditions for the vines: virtually no frost and no hail, a warm, sunny summer with suitably cool nights that was barely interrupted by some light showers at the beginning of September. Because of very low water reserves in the soil, a significant number of grapes began to lose weight by drying up, a very unusual phenomenon in our latitudes. Picking started on 12th September under sunny skies, resulting in musts with an average of almost 11 degrees potential alcohol and an acidity of slightly over 7g/l: a balance close to that achieved in the legendary 1976 vintage. After fermentation in casks, we did not rack the wines and this allowed us to carry out weekly bâtonnage for three months. Thereafter, we took advantage of the last cold days of winter to clarify the wines naturally. Right from the start, our tasting of the Vin Clair demonstrated their wondrous structure and ripeness. The tasting that followed confirmed our first impressions and at the beginning of June, we decided to use for the assemblage Chardonnays from Avize (50%) and Chouilly (–%) and Pinots Noirs from Dizy (35%), Ay (15%) and Mareuil/Ay (–%).
Producer Information
Website
Address
68 rue du Colonel Fabien, 51530 DIZY, France
Phone
+33 (0)3 26 55 68 11
Email
Owner
Jean-Hervé Chiquet, Laurent Chiquet
Cellarmaster
Jean-Hervé Chiquet, Laurent Chiquet