Champagne Brut
La Collection Crayères "Blanc des Millénaire" Jéroboam 2006

La Collection Crayères Édition by Charles Heidsieck is an exclusive selection of Vintage Champagnes from the Private Collection of the Maison, offered in limited quantities. Each bottle has aged for years on the lees in the historic chalk crayères, an environment that allows the wines to reach their full aromatic and gustatory expression. With this collection, the Maison pays tribute to its heritage and reveals the fruit of decades of savoir-faire. From the depths of the cellars come extraordinary cuvées, witnesses to an art of assemblage able to defy the years with grace and precision. Each vintage stands out for its character and complexity, with a refined structure and a unique aromatic signature. Discovering the Collection Crayères means setting out on a journey through time in search of the purest and most luminous essence of Charles Heidsieck Champagne.

This rare edition of Blanc des Millénaires Vintage 2006, comes from a year with a strongly contrasting climate. A cold, snowy winter gave way to a spring marked by violent storms in May and a record-breaking hot July, followed by a cool and rainy August. The return of dry, sunny weather in September then guided the grapes towards ideal ripeness and a smooth harvest. The assemblage brings together exclusively Chardonnay grapes from the finest plots of five villages of the Côte des Blancs. These are Vertus, classified Premier Cru, and the Grand Cru villages of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Avize and Cramant, chosen for their minerality, aromatic richness and remarkable ability to evolve over the years. After the tirage in 2007 comes an exceptionally long ageing of 18 years on the lees in the Maison’s crayères, which gives the wine complexity, mineral tension and an unmistakable aromatic signature. The final dosage, in Brut style, completes a vibrant and precise profile.

On tasting, Blanc des Millénaires 2006 shows a brilliant golden hue and leads to a finely toasted nose of perfectly controlled ripeness. Dried flowers, yellow fruit jellies, plum, black fruits and blood orange mingle with honey and toasted hazelnut, while subtle hints of nutmeg underline its elegance and intensity before opening onto notes of mocha, cocoa and flint. On the palate the wine is creamy, powerful and rich, with an enveloping softness supported by a chalky minerality that guides its airy, harmonious development and recalls Mediterranean pastry. The finish is remarkably long and fully carries the signature of time that defines the style of the Maison. Released in 2026 in Jeroboam format, this cuvée is offered as a production in a limited run of 300 individually numbered bottles, and this one bears number 82.