Winemaker Notes
If exceptional had a name, it would be Champagne Alfred Gratien . Alfred Gratien champagnes are handcrafted for guaranteed quality and consistency. A few miles away from Epernay’s bustling town center, deep in the heart of a Champagne vineyard, are the Alfred Gratien champagne cellars. It was here, on Rue Maurice Cerveaux, that Alfred Gratien set up his business and created his first cuvées in 1864. For over a century and a half, Alfred Gratien champagnes have remained a family affair perpetuated by the expertise and know-how of their founder.
The house’s legacy relies on its cellar masters who were taught a trade that has been handed down from father to son for four generations now. Gaston Jaeger, the earliest first descendant, took on the role in 1905. In 1951, he passed the craft on to his son Charles, who in turn paved the way for his son Jean-Pierre to take over in 1966.
Nicolas joined his father in 1990, with the pair now having worked side-by-side for 17 years. This wonderful collaborative effort is a continuation of the inherited know-how that has been passed on for nearly a century. In 2007, Nicolas became the cellar master for Alfred Gratien Champagne in Epernay. He embodies the living memory of the Alfred Gratien house and its grand cru champagnes.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Marked by great châteaux built with the same tuffeau limestone that is also responsible for the excavation of so many of the famed Loire caves, Saumur is famous for its Chenin blanc based sparkling wines. Inside the Saumur region, Saumur-Champigny creates some of the Loire’s greatest Cabernet Francs.