Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage
The driest bottle from the house: 5 grams of sugar per liter and six years of cellar aging before it comes onto the market. All the grapes come from a single harvest, giving this champagne its own character rather than the established house style.
One harvest, six years in the cellar
While most champagne is a blend of multiple years, in a Grand Vintage all the grapes come from the same harvest. The house also gives such a bottle much more time: six years of cellar aging before it is released. Those years show in the brioche on the nose and in the calm, long palate. The 2016 vintage is the version currently being served; with the next vintage, the grape proportions will change accordingly.
The second figure that defines this bottle is the dosage: 5 grams of sugar per liter, making it an extra brut. Within the same house, Nectar Impérial is at 40 to 45 grams, almost nine times as much. The 2016 blend consists of 44 percent pinot noir, 32 percent chardonnay, and 24 percent meunier; the chardonnay share is higher than in the Brut Impérial and gives the bottle its tension. The alcohol content also remains 12.5% here.
In brief
White peach, jasmine, and brioche
Jasmine and pastry
White peach and jasmine on top, with the bread-like brioche that comes from the long cellar aging. No sweet aromas at all; everything remains taut.
Invigorating and lively
Lively and invigorating on the attack, with a fine tension that remains thanks to the low dosage. You taste the wine, not the sugar.
Dry and long
With 5 grams per liter, there is nothing to soften the finish. What remains is fruit, acidity, and minerality, and it lingers for a long time.
Flavor profile of the Grand Vintage. An extra brut has no sweet buffer, so temperature and glass choice matter more here than with the Brut Impérial.
Taste slowly, not too cold
Keep it at 8 to 10 degrees and choose the upper end of that range. Serving it ice-cold suppresses the jasmine and brioche notes, which is precisely what the bottle has developed over six years.
From a white wine glass
Pour 10 cl into a white wine glass and let it stand for five minutes before taking the first sip. The mature notes only really emerge then; in a narrow flute, they remain trapped.
Wine glasses →With seafood
A dry, mature champagne goes well with seafood and with relaxed tasting at the table. Pour about 12 cl per glass and fill it to two-thirds, leaving room above the wine.
Glass: tulip or wine glass →Open it without a pop
When opening the bottle, twist the bottle rather than the cork, and keep your thumb on the cork until it gives way. The cork will then come out with a sigh, and you won't lose any mousse, which would be a shame with this bottle.
Bar tools →Cocktails with champagne
Serve this bottle neat; six years of cellar ageing and 5 grams of sugar per litre disappear completely into the liqueur or gin in a cocktail. The classics below call for a simpler brut, such as the Brut Impérial.
French 75
Gin, lemon and syrup shaken and topped up with bubbles. Use a standard brut here.
Champagne Cocktail
A sugar cube with Angostura, topped up with champagne. The simplest way to liven up bubbles.
Negroni Sbagliato
Campari and sweet vermouth with bubbles instead of gin. Bittersweet and low in alcohol.
Kir Royal
Cassis at the bottom, topped up with bubbles. The same applies here: the simpler the champagne, the more appropriate it is.Which glass is right for a vintage champagne?
A mature champagne needs room for its aroma. A white wine glass or a spacious tulip provides that room; a narrow flute mainly retains the bubbles, and that is not the main point here.
More Moët & Chandon flavors
Moët & Chandon
Where it all began. On the brand page, you can read all about Moët & Chandon: origins, varieties and classic cocktails.
Go to Moët & Chandon →
Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial
Wild strawberry, raspberry and a peppery kick. The colour comes from approximately 10% red wine within the Pinot Noir component.
View Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial →
Moët & Chandon Nectar Impérial
Pineapple, passion fruit and stone fruit, with a hint of vanilla. The sweetest bottle from the house, made for dessert.
View Moët & Chandon Nectar Impérial →
Moët & Chandon Ice Impérial
Made to be served over ice cubes. Mango, guava and nectarine, with firm acidity that can stand up to the melting water.
View Moët & Chandon Ice Impérial →Questions about Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage
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