It is the secret of a champagne with a powerful, even impregnating profile. It is also the grape that gives body and structure to the elixir of kings. Mainly grown in the Montagne de Reims and Côte des Bars, Pinot Noir is a bastion of Champagne culture.
It is also the bastion of a great house: Veuve Clicquot. And that's no coincidence. This grape variety, which accounts for 38% of the vineyard, was the favorite of the first woman to run a Champagne house. In any case, this visionary icon had developed such an interest in this black-skinned, white-juiced grape that she developed appropriate growing and ageing techniques. As early as the 1820s, Madame Clicquot dared to produce cuvées that were quite unusual at the time, since black grapes were used to make white wine. She considered pinot noir "the only grape capable of producing wines of incomparable finesse and freshness".
A strong link that Veuve Clicquot continues to nurture with its prestigious cuvée La Grande Dame, in reference to Madame Clicquot's nickname as "the Grande Dame of Champagne". It all began in 1972, when the house decided to celebrate its bicentenary with a wine that highlighted Pinot Noir. at the time, the 1962 vintage was a reminder of the businesswoman's attachment to this variety. Then, the line was taken even further with the 2008 vintage. The nectar is now composed of no less than 90% Pinot Noir, with only 10% Chardonnay to add texture and salinity.
Now, with the 2018 vintage, overseen by cellar master Didier Mariotti, we can savor both the straightforwardness of this precious cuvée and its aromatic complexity. A score between freshness and character that draws its depth from a year marked by a long, very wet winter, followed by a long, generously sunny summer. The burning star is also reflected in the iconic yellow color of the Veuve Clicquot signature. It has been used since 1877 to represent the moment when the sun rises. A precious detail that has logically been preserved in the new visual identity of the Grande Dame cuvée, which now bears the signature "l'Art du Pinot noir".
Cuvée la Grande Dame 2018 is available for 190 euros at Printemps Haussman and La Samaritaine in Paris, as well as at the Veuve Clicquot boutique in Reims. The bottle is preciously slipped into a paper case made partly of hemp. The case is sealed with a ribbon that can be personalized.
News & Events
Ewen Frin, 28, founder of Omanori, revolutionizes Breton gastronomybreton gastronomy by supplying it with fresh seaweed thanks to an innovative system of preservation in ponds. Based in Saint-Malo, Omanori meetsa growing demand from restaurateurs for a local, healthy and sustainablehealthy and sustainable.Fascinated by the ocean since his childhood in Brittany, Ewen Frin has long been an avid scuba diver anddiving and spearfishing. After studying business in Normandy and five yearsyears in Paris as a consultant, he decided to return to his roots. "In Brittany,i had an intimate knowledge of the richness of marine resources, particularly seaweedalgae," he confides. When I discovered that seafood cuisine in Paris was often limited toover-fished products like salmon or tuna, I wanted to promote local, virtuous species.he quickly became interested in seaweed, a natural product with gustatory and nutritional properties that are often underestimated.nutritional properties that are often underestimated. "Brittany is home to 700 speciesof seaweed, around thirty of which are authorized for consumption. Each has a unique flavor, texture and color. They are not widely promoted because they are not part of ourgastronomic heritage.Traditionally, seaweed is marketed either dehydrated or "fresh", but preserved in salt.but preserved in salt, which presents major drawbacks for chefs."Salt, which is used to preserve seaweed, requires it to be rinsed abundantly before cooking.cooking them, which spoils them, causes them to lose nutrients and alters their texture", explainsthe seaweed grower. This is where Omanori breaks new ground with a revolutionary principle.Thanks to a partnership with a local company specializing in algae cultivationfreshly harvested seaweed (such as sea lettuce, dulse and aonori) is preserved in tanksare preserved in basins, recreating their natural environment. This allows them to live for severalweeks after harvesting. First picked by hand during high tides on the foreshore, they are then cleaned and purified,they are then cleaned and purified in various basins. "This process enablestheir taste and nutritional properties intact, as if they had just been harvested.as if they had just been harvested, even outside high tide periods",Ewen Frin quickly won over prestigious restaurants such as Maison Vermer inSaint-Malo (2 toques), Ombelle in Dinard (2 toques) and Iodé in Vannes (3 toques).
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