Of the three Champagne houses named Heidsieck - all originating from families once related - Charles is the smallest and arguably, the best. Established in 1851 by the nephew of Piper-Heidsieck's owner, Charles Heidsieck himself was the original 'Champagne Charlie'. In 2011 both Charles Heidsieck and Piper-Heidsieck were bought by EPI Group headed by Christopher Descours, he has provided significant finance for both Houses allowing them to grow their vineyard holdings, grape purchasing and production. Today, production occurs alongside sister company Piper-Heidsieck in an ultra-modern functional wine-making facility on the southern outskirts of Reims. The Charles Heidsieck Cellars are a Unesco World Heritage site and comprise more than eight kilometres of chalk tunnels interlinking forty seven subterranean cathedrals called Crayères, reaching 30 metres high and believed to have been dug out in the 3rd century. This is the 7th release of Blanc des Millenaires since 1983 launch.

Charles Heidsieck's prestige cuvée is a blend of pure Chardonnay from just five different Crus: Avize for verve and minerality; Cramant for complexity and ageability; Le Mesnil-sur-Oger for balance; Oger for creaminess and weight; and Vertus for floral freshness. An absolute masterpiece from the Côte des Blancs, this cuvée spends more than fifteen years maturing in the heart of Charles Heidsieck's two-thousand-year-old chalk cellars. Such an outstanding creation deserves an exceptional case: the gift box, which mirrors the curves of the crayères cellars after which it is named (Blanc des Millénaires, or 'White of Millenia'), echoes the nobility of this location where nothing counts except time itself.

Weather: The year 2007 was anachronistic in its wine profile: it was reminiscent of the profile of the great Blanc de Blancs of the 1980s and 1990s, with restrained maturity and biting acidity. The vintage caused concern to begin with because everything was so early. Spring and bud break occurred before their usual time. Flowering started on May 25th. Poor weather made it difficult to care for the vineyard, but, at the same time, preserved a good acidity. A rather cool summer, combined with heavy rains just before harvest, was out of character from the very warm summers of preceding years. An unusual vintage that was befitting of Chardonnay, with yields exceeding usual Appellation standards and bunches that displayed a good sugar and acid balance.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: Grand Cru | Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger & 1er Cru Vertus
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Lees Ageing: 12 years
Disgorged: July 2021
Dosage: 7.3 g/l
Cork: Mytik Diam Technological
Drink: Now to 2030

This is the first vintage of BdM in the new longer neck bottle and we would expect that to add to the bottles "reductive properties" potentially extending its ageing ability.

Tasting Note: It was wonderful to taste the new vintage of Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires Blanc de Blancs 2007 with Chef de Cave Cyril Brun - 2007 was a fabulous year for Chardonnay, cooler than its predecessor and they mostly have a high salinity and for Cyril it’s most like 1983: there’s great precision on the aromatics, there’s fruit, super pure rich and ripe lemon with just a hint of some yellow tropical fruits. The palate has power and great freshness as the acid and salinity play on your palate, with hints of Chardonnay creaminess just emerging. There’s a textural roundness to the 2007, utterly delicious