Grandin Brut
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Since 1886, Grandin has produced an excellent quality sparkling wine from the Loire Valley, home to the world's finest sparkling wines. At a reasonable price, Grandin produces exclusively by the "Methode Traditionelle." Identical to the method used in Champagne, the "Methode Traditionelle" requires rigorous grape selection, constant quality, and a minimum 12-month second fermentation.
In 1883, Henri Grandin, a lawyer and wine lover, married Mademoiselle Pouillet de Limesle whose family owned Les caves de La Bouveraie, a domain in the Loire Valley. Its cellars were in what used to be Louis XIV’s royal glassworks in the magnificent Chateau of Ingrandes-sur-Loire. In 1886, he launched the elegant sparkling wine that today still bears his name, Henri Grandin. His wines quickly gained renown, both in Paris and internationally.
Today, Grandin is still producing high-quality sparkling wines that are sold worldwide. They are currently made at the Boisset family’s state of the art sparkling wine facility in Nuits-Saint-Georges in Burgundy, where very strict standards are enforced to ensure Grandin’s signature style and excellent quality are assured year after year.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Praised for its stately Renaissance-era chateaux, the picturesque Loire valley produces pleasant wines of just about every style. Just south of Paris, the appellation lies along the river of the same name and stretches from the Atlantic coast to the center of France.
The Loire can be divided into three main growing areas, from west to east: the Lower Loire, Middle Loire, and Upper/Central Loire. The Pay Nantais region of the Lower Loire—farthest west and closest to the Atlantic—has a maritime climate and focuses on the Melon de Bourgogne variety, which makes refreshing, crisp, aromatic whites.
The Middle Loire contains Anjou, Saumur and Touraine. In Anjou, Chenin Blanc produces some of, if not the most, outstanding dry and sweet wines with a sleek, mineral edge and characteristics of crisp apple, pear and honeysuckle. Cabernet Franc dominates red and rosé production here, supported often by Grolleau and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sparkling Crémant de Loire is a specialty of Saumur. Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are common in Touraine as well, along with Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay and Malbec (known locally as Côt).
The Upper Loire, with a warm, continental climate, is Sauvignon Blanc country, home to the world-renowned appellations of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Pinot Noir and Gamay produce bright, easy-drinking red wines here.