| Article number: | P-3163 |
| Availability: | In stock |
| Available in store: | Check availability |
The Clouet family were the official printers to Louis XV’s Royal Court at Versailles, and their attention to filagreed printing is till evident in their current labels. Jean-Francois Clouet lives in the house his ancestors built in 1741. The labyrinthine chalk cellar below still includes partial false walls, originally constructed to hide precious bottles from the Nazis during WW2.
“Un Jour de 1911” honors the Champagne Revolution after several vintages of poor harvests due to phylloxera, mold, mildew, hailstorms, and flooding. Some Champagne houses started purchasing cheap grapes from other parts of the country, leaving the local growers under the threat of poverty.
Their frustrations came to a head during January of 1911, when local vine growers intercepted trucks with grapes from the Loire Valley, and pushed them into the Marne river. They later went to some of the faux Champagne houses & tossed barrel after barrel into the river in protest. Eventually, the French government passed a law defining the approved areas where Champagne grapes were allowed to be grown.
This cuvée comes from 10 of the best lieu dits in Clouet’s Grand Cru vineyards in Bouzy. A mixture of different vintages, with a minimum aging of 8 years. Half of the blend ferments in steel tanks, with remaining 50% fermenting in used Sauternes barrels. Only 1911 bottles are produced every year, each packed in straw with a handwritten booklet.
Aromas of candied white fruit, jasmine, and rose petals fill the fine bubbles. Pear, apple, almonds, and hazelnuts join notes of brioche, honey, lemon-lime citrus, and a chalky minerality. Powerfully rich, beautifully textured, and impeccably balanced, it will continue to improve for at least a decade.
100% Pinot Noir. NM. Sustainable. No dosage.
