Champagne Henri Giraud, Fût De Chêne, MV19

Est. delivery in September, 2024

The latest release from Henri Giraud is always a cause for celebration and the MV19 very much lives up to the bill. Using Grand Cru fruit from some of the top sites in the village of Aÿ, the wine is fermented and matured in oak, resulting in a distinctively rich and textural Champagne with beautifully pure fruit, stunning freshness and prominently decedent aromatics. Created using a very hands-on approach, with grapes harvested by hand and élevage taking place for 12 months in oak barrels sourced from the Argonne forest close to the vineyards, the Champagne then spends a further 4 years in bottle on fine lees.

Henri Giraud spare no expense in their pursuit of perfection. No stone is left unturned in the winemaking process to achieve their goal, from the surgical efforts in the vineyard through to the extraordinary lengths they go to in the winery. In fact, for those barrels, they go so far as to even select individual trees for the staves. Just like vines, or indeed any other crop, the terroir impacts all aspects of the plant, or tree, in question – subtle changes in grain structure which influence flavour. Through years of research, Giraud have identified areas of the forest which suit certain qualitative styles and they use this to their advantage, felling trees which are going to complement the wines from any given vintage. The barrels for maturation are individual, meaning every release is completely unique.