Henri Giraud is one of the oldest (1625) and most prominent family-owned Champagne Houses, known for its intense style, thanks to fermentation in special Argonne oak barrels. Chef de Cave (master of the cellar), said that Henri Giraud farms without pesticides or herbicides and produces its barrels. According to the Lambier Wines team, Champagne from Henri Giraud is always a non-trivial choice!
The Fût de Chêne cuvée has left an indelible impression in Champagne since 1990. A guardian of Champagne's know-how and natural modernity, MV also embodies a unique and inimitable way of expressing Champagne that goes far beyond the restorative image of a single year. As the backbone of the collection, MV is the result of an unprecedented tracing and winemaking process in oak casks. Through the process of vinification and winemaking in small Argonne oak barrels, Henri Giraud has learned that oak carries its terroir, as does the grapevine. But while the vine yields wine every year, the forest can only give a bicentennial oak a once-in-a-lifetime gift. The wine has a deep, clean, and complex, slightly oaky bouquet with ripe fruit, almonds, nuts, and spicy notes of toasted rice and light mocha. Clean and very fresh on the palate.
Powerful and dizzying in their youth, but when introduced to several older Champagnes from the Henri Giraud library, the team at Lambier Wines emphasized once again how gracefully Giraud Champagnes can age. Without the use of stainless steel, with a minimum of intervention and a natural winemaking process that brings Henri Giraud wines as close as possible to the truth of the terroir and its interaction with the special oak species. It is worth stopping here and talking about oak in detail. In 2005, Claude Giraud discovered that Argonne woods are a perfect match for wines from Champagne. It turns out that the geology of the soil influences the character of the oak, just like the vine itself. To trace its influence, grown in different terroirs, around 80 barrels are brought to the house each year and undergo a five-year rotation, experimenting with different cuvées. Each barrel is labeled with an indication of the section of the Argonne Forest where the oak grows. The natural approach is also reflected in the use of terracotta tanks, which provide excellent thermal insulation, guaranteeing the all-important protection against excessive temperature fluctuations. These are only a small part of the winemaking practices employed by the Champagne House of Henri Giraud. As the accompanying reviews attest, the team at Lambier Wines is, to put it mildly, partial to the wines of this family-owned Champagne House.