Champagne Charles Heidsieck
jason tesauro
“Only the unimaginative can fail to find a reason for drinking champagne.”
Champagne is the most versatile wine in the world.
I've enjoyed it in tuxedos and pyjamas, on planes and in picnics, after dinner and before breakfast. And whether it's the occasion of a yacht christening, tailgating or idle Tuesday, champagne is always welcome.
With over 16,000 growers and 320 champagne houses spanning the French alphabet from A.R. Lenoble to Vranken-Lafitte, where to begin? There's no one right answer, but I can tell you for certain one house not to miss: Champagne Charles Heidsieck.
“Precision, pedigree and class.”
To understand what's behind the bottle, it struck me to first look into the bottle – with a serious pro. Over the Fourth of July holiday, Master Sommelier Robert Jones joined me on an unseasonably cool afternoon for a proper porch sippin' session with two wines: Brut Réserve NV and Brut Millésime 2005.
From a house founded in Reims in 1851 and kept in the same family for 125 years, we expected class and tradition. What we discovered, is that 165 years in, Champagne Charles Heidsieck continues to beguile with a rich, full and leesy elegance that hums with the brute force of finesse.
“Of all the producers who did business during Prohibition, no one did it better than Jean-Charles Heidsieck, grandson of the famous Champagne Charlie. In 1922...Jean-Charles was sent to North America by his father to ‘find out what was going on.’ What he discovered was that there was a killing to be made. All that was required were guts and imagination. ”
Pull up a chair (and a glass) and join me for a bubbly conversation
with Master Sommelier Robert Jones.
“This prestigious grande marque house is justly famed on both sides of the Atlantic for its rich, hedonistic, full-flavored champagnes that make excellent partners to fine cuisine.”