Grape Varieties & Styles of Champagne Defined 

The Pinot Noir Grape

It is the predominant grape variety on the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Bar where the cool, chalky terrain suit it perfectly. It is the Pinot Noir that adds backbone and body to the blend, producing wines with distinctive aromas of red berries and good structure. Pinot Noir, often described as delicate,  also adds lovely aromatics to the blend. 

A fashionable red grape variety, the Pinot Noir grape produces divinely scented and gorgeously fruity wines. A Pinot Noir reaches its highest peaks of fruit expression in cool climates where the weather allows the grape to intensify in flavour and colour which makes it perfect for France and the Champagne Region.

The Meunier Grape

Pinot Meunier has become a star in its own right in recent years, with Meunier Champagnes becoming increasingly more popular. This robust grape variety shows better cold-weather resistance than the pinot noir and is particularly well suited to the more argillaceous soils of the Marne Valley. The Meunier adds roundness to the blend, producing supple, fruity wines that tend to age more quickly than wines made with the other two varieties. 

The Chardonnay Grape

With the amount of Blanc de Blancs Champagnes found in wine shops and on restaurant menus, the chardonnay is king on the Côte des Blancs, yielding delicately fragrant wines with characteristic notes of flowers and citrus.  Being slower to develop than the other two varieties, chardonnay produces wines that are built to age.

Pinot Gris, Arbane & Petit Meslier Grapes

These grapes are part of the grape varieties that one finds in Champagne but they are rare and often forgotten. They now represent only 90 hectares of the Champagne region.

Pinot Gris grapes are susceptible to spring frosts but are the first to ripen.

Arbane fears bad weather and is difficult to squeeze so only a few growers grow the Arbane

Petit Meslier develops an incomparable organoleptic richness but is subject to botrytis a fungus that attacks tender parts of the plant. 

Sourcing from top producers we pride ourselves on the quality, taste and smoothness of our Champagne.
  Our prestige award-winning Grand Reserve Champagne is shipped directly from France and we supply this to customers under their own brands. 
 We also supply Champagnes from many of the major Champagne Houses and each gift is beautifully presented and comes with its own gift message card.  
 Read more about our Champagnes