36
To produce an iconic flawless Brut Cuvée
Harvest
GDD Chapuy is the personification of a traditional family owned independent Champagne house with a meticulous and unwavering attention to detail. Every stage of their Champagne creation from grape to bottle is the embodiment of their rich heritage, passion and wine making excellence.
The family estate cultivates the 3 traditional grape varieties utilised in Champagne creation. Their Chardonnay grape provides elegance, lightness and a unique minerality, distinctive for the Côte des Blancs region. The Pinot Noir delivers a strength and structure, whilst the Pinot Meunier grape overlays the aromatic softness and fruity notes.
Till this day, the Chapuy family still employ the most traditional harvesting methods. Row by row, the vineyards are rigorously cultivated by a team of dedicated vineyard workers with decades of experience and a keen expert eye. All vineyard grounds are still exclusively prepared by horse and plough and grapes are all hand picked and diligently sorted for pressing.
Pressing
When selected grapes are pressed for Champagne production, the extracted juices are broadly split into 2 segments. The first (and highest quality) pressing La Cuvée and the second pressing ‘la taille’; which is a lower quality, less age worthy juice with lower mineral content and refinement.
Many Champagne houses will utilise the first and second press juice in their Champagne production, however a small number of premium producers will employ only the first ‘La Cuvée’ press.
GDD Chapuy goes one step further, in that the entire Champagne range is comprised exclusively of the best and highest quality section of the already premium La Cuvée press. This is known as the ‘tête de cuvée’ or ‘head of the cuvée’. It represents the most meticulously selected, most expensive, and highest quality press used to produce a truly exquisite Champagne.
Finishing & Bottling
Each of GDD Chapuy’s distinctive cuvée’s are skilfully and painstakingly crafted by an in house master Oenologist.
Primary fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks, before filtering with no centrifuging for final clarification. The base wine is then bottled and crown-sealed for secondary fermentation ‘prise de mousse’ within 6 months post harvest.
Non-vintage Champagnes are created with wines that have undergone malolactic fermentation, whereas all vintage cuvées are fully vinified without malolactic fermentation to retain freshness over time.
Each bottle is then individually and gradually riddled (precisely twisted in both directions and gradually tilted from a horizontal to vertical position over time) encouraging the sediment to move into the neck of the bottle.
Once the final sediments have settled in the bottle necks, the bottles will be matured ‘sur pointes’ (upside down or ‘on tiptoe’.) The perfected blend conservation ‘sur lattes’ (maturation ‘on lees’ in the bottle) is a minimum 3 years for non-vintage and 5 years for Vintage cuvée Champagnes.
The bottles are then inverted and the necks placed into a freezing brine solution of -28°C. The frozen sediment and yeast deposited in the bottle neck is naturally removed by the pressure of the Champagne as the crown seal is removed.
In the final disgorging stages the dosage or ‘liqueur d’expédition’ is only based on chardonnay wines to avoid aromatically marking the delicate cuvee before corking.
After disgorging, GDD Chapuy Champagnes are subsequently stored for a further 12 months to allow full maturation. Each bottle is then diligently hand cleaned and prepared for finishing.
Label Application
The final stage of the journey is the application of GDD Chapuy’s distinctive diamond motif and label design.
Each label is individually cast in pure pewter and hand finished by master craftsmen in a rigorous 17-stage creation process. The labels are then meticulously hand applied to each bottle and thoroughly inspected by a further 3 separate craftsmen before been approved.
Only bottles which make it through this arduous journey are hand decorated with the bottles ‘coup de grâce’. A flawless diamond cut crystal, which adorns the bottle’s diamond motif centerpiece.
This mark of excellence is a tribute to the formidable process involved in creating a truly flawless Champagne range.