The tasting of Armand de Brignac that took place in London in the fall was arranged in order to showcase, for the first time, a Vintage Champagne from the king of Champagne bling. Until this launch, all de Brignac’s Champagnes have been Multi-Vintage blends of three vintages, along the lines of Laurent-Perrier’s Grand Siècle or Cattier’s Clos du Moulin.
So, why break the mold now? According to Jasmin Allen, president and CEO of Armand de Brignac, “Our winemaking style is known for a trio of vintages, and we wanted to explore a Vintage cuvée [when the] team realized they had something special from the harvest in 2015, with exceptional red grapes harvested near the winery in Chigny-les-Roses.”
Ten weeks without rain from spring until mid-August was followed by rain in mid-August that aided the ripening process. This produced—in the harvest’s sunny, dry weather—a vintage often described as solar. According to Alexandre Cattier, via video link from Cattier in Chigny-les-Roses, “It was a great vintage for us in Pinot Noir and Meunier—as good as 2012 and 2018: a very warm year of good ripeness, no rain, and a lush crop, whose wine tasted very generous.” It’s exceptional, too, because apart from the likes of Krug Clos d’Ambonnay and Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Françaises, few prestige cuvées are blancs de noirs. Alexandre hinted that 2018, also a good year for red grapes, could be de Brignac’s Vintage Blanc de Noirs. Champagne Cattier makes the wines of Armand de Brignac, for which only the first part of the press wine is used.
Armand de Brignac: Opposite attributes
Armand de Brignac is a modern phenomenon whose status is derived from the very opposite attributes normally considered essential for a Champagne prestige cuvée. Extravagantly priced and endorsed by celebrities, it’s precisely the bling element that appeals to the wealthy celebrity clientèle that buys Armand de Brignac. Not only is it unapologetic in flaunting its garishly metallic Ace of Spades bottles and its unabashed association with rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, bling is its modus vivendi and the raison d’être of its price.
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But there’s a twist. For all its apparent triumph of style over substance, Armand de Brignac is in fact an extremely good, sometimes excellent Champagne made by Cattier in the Montagne de Reims. At the ultra-prestige cuvée level, it can hold its head high among some of Champagne’s best cuvées. Carter bought the brand in 2014 before entering into a partnership with Moët Hennessy in 2021 in a joint-venture deal believed to have netted him $320 million. “We do not comment on the financial details of the partnership,” says Jasmin Allen.
Armand de Brignac is transparent on the quantities for limited releases such as Blanc de Noirs Vintage 2015 or Blanc de Noirs Assemblage No.4, “to showcase their rarity, exclusivity, and collectibility,” but coy about the quantities of its other Champagnes. According to Whitney Saffel, vice president of communications, “80% of the brand is Gold, 12% Rosé, 5% is Demi-Sec, and just 2% Blanc de Blancs and 1% Blancs de Noirs.” Jasmin Allen says, “We wouldn’t want to confuse our consumers by numbering them,” which allows them to further grow global distribution using Moët Hennessy’s distribution channels. “We are always a brand about limited production,” says Whitney Saffel. “However, we can still produce more quantity, but not a massive jump. The ambition is, rather, to grow cumulatively.” Main markets for the brand are the US, UK, France, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and South Africa.
Why is it so much more expensive than Dom Pérignon, Cristal, or Krug (£2,650 in its gift box from Harrods in London)? Jasmin Allen cites reasons such as the result of a winemaking signature of Armand de Brignac, starting with taking the first and freshest portion of the cuvée, the hand-finishing and polishing of the bottles, the protective metal coating on the bottles, and the hand-applied pewter labels. Bob Dylan may have sung, “money doesn’t talk, it swears,” but ultimately, whatever you think of the price, if all the limited-edition bottles sell out, leaving Shawn Carter and co gasping for more, all you can say is what the French always say: C’est le marché qui décide. Assuming Armand de Brignac continues to go down the Vintage route, it will be interesting to see the extent to which subsequent vintages are selected to reflect both the quality and the style of this Champagne phenomenon.
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Tasting
2015 Armand de Brignac Blanc de Noirs
(12.5% ABV; Magnum)
Only made in magnums, “the perfect format for its aging potential,” according to Jasmin Allen, this is the inaugural release of this Vintage wine, comprising 70% Pinot Noir from Mailly and Verzenay with 30% Meunier from Rilly-la-Montagne, Chigny-les-Roses, and Ludes. Disgorged in February 2024, after more than seven years on the lees, with a dosage of 6g/l, it’s a deepish mid-gold in color, with a fresh and delicate bead and subtle, biscuity, autolysis character, developing in the glass with a note of yellow plum; initially, ripe stone-fruit and shortbread flavors come to the fore, buoyed by a creamy cushion of bubbles, the full body of the Pinot duo adding a winey roundness, before veering to savory; the concentration of fruit, with a refreshing, balanced dryness, makes it an eminently drinkable wine with bubbles, but it doubtless has long-term aging potential, especially as it’s in magnum format. Only 1,258 magnums made. | 93
