Armand de Brignac – Champagne – Discover – The Luxury of Champagne – A Life in Gold
Armand de Brignac – The Luxury of Champagne – A Life in Gold
13 th generation wine growers, the Cattier family, craft the prestige cuvées of Armand de Brignac. Their dream was to create a champagne of the most exceptional quality, that would represent the best of the best from the region, where their family have grown vines for more than 250 years.
Without the pressures of volume, the small team behind Champagne Armand de Brignac focuses on each small detail, to ensure ultimate quality at every step. A group of just 18 highly skilled craftspeople touch a bottle, from pressing the fruit, to the moment the bottles leave the cellars. Each step of the process is led by the human touch, from handpicking the grapes to polishing each bottle and hand-applying the distinctive French pewter labels.
Inside Armand de Brignac
1 The Craftspeople
Father and Son
12th and 13th generation wine growers, Jean-Jacques Cattier and his son, Alexandre, craft the prestige cuvées of Armand de Brignac. Their dream was to create a champagne of the most exceptional quality, that would represent the best of the best from the region, where their family have grown vines for more than 250 years.
Team of 18
A group of just 18 highly skilled people touch a bottle of Champagne Armand de Brignac, from pressing the fruit, to the moment the bottles leave the cellars. Each step of the process is led by the human touch, from handpicking the grapes to polishing each bottle and hand-applying French pewter labels. Without the pressures of volume, the team behind Champagne Armand de Brignac focuses on each small detail, to ensure ultimate quality at every step.
2 The Vineyards
The Cattier family is based in the Montagne de Reims and own 33 hectares of vines across some of the most lauded crus in Champagne, including the villages of Rilly-la-Montagne, Chigny-les-Roses and Ludes. The fruit selection is guided by the intimate knowledge the Cattier family have of the tapestry of vineyards in Champagne, after working the land for more than 250 years.
Each year they search for the plots that present fruit with the most remarkable character – regardless of cru – from what Mother Nature presented from the season. Sustainability is a core principle of the Cattier’s vineyard management and their owned lands are certified HVE level 3 – the highest grading from the French government – acknowledging the level of care they give to the environment, to protect it for future generations.
3 Winemaking – Taking Only The First
Only including the very first and freshest portion of the cuvée press, in order to produce the very best champagnes possible, is a winemaking signature of Armand de Brignac. This intense selectivity and meticulous attention to detail ensures the juice abounds with vibrant fruit character, soft texture and balanced acidity.
French Oak
Each bottle of Champagne Armand de Brignac is finished with a unique dosage, which comprises the finest base wine of the harvest, aged for one year in new French Oak. This winemaking touch provides subtle complexity to the finished cuvées, introducing hints of baked pastry, vanilla and toastiness.
Trio of Vintages
Unique to Champagne Armand de Brignac is the blending of a trio of vintages. Each assemblage brings together the unique characters from three distinct harvests, while maintaining a powerful lineage from blend to blend.
The Bottle
The Name
In the 1950s, Nelly Cattier, mother to Jean-Jacques, discovered a character in a novel she was reading, called ‘M. De Brignac’. She found the name noble and registered it for use on a new wine in the future. It was long forgotten, and during the creation of this new tête de cuvée from the house in the early 2000s, Jean-Jacques decided to pay tribute to his mother by adopting this special name.
Metal & Pewter
Each bottle of Armand de Brignac is coated in metal, finished with the hand application of French pewter labels and polished. Only 20 bottles can be completed per person per hour in the winery, and as a result, no two bottles are the same.
Les Grands Bouteilles
Armand de Brignac has the most extensive collection of large format bottles of any prestige champagne house, from its 1.5L magnum to the highly rare, and made only by special order, 30L Midas.