Veuve Clicquot`s 1995 Rosé Réserve is a distinguished vintage Champagne, notable for its rarity, as the house no longer produces this specific vintage. This cuvée combines 53% Pinot Noir, 32% Chardonnay, and 15% red wine from Bouzy`s Pinot Noir, aged for eight years on the lees. The 1995 harvest, marked by a warm summer with some pre-harvest showers, yielded a large crop, the first universally declared vintage since 1990. On the nose, it presents deep cherry, butterscotch candy, and pastry-shop aromas, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. The palate offers cherry and croissant-pastry flavours, balanced by a slight mineral tang, leading to a complex caramel-chalk finish. This vintage exemplifies Veuve Clicquot`s commitment to quality and tradition.
Founded in Reims in 1772, Veuve Clicquot is one of the largest Champagne houses. The famous Madame Clicquot is credited with many innovations during her tenure as head of the house in the early 1800s - introducing vintage-dated Champagne, inventing the process of riddling to ensure a clearer wine and developing the rosé Champagne produced through blending. Madame Clicquot is also credited with helping to popularise Champagne with high society in Europe during the Napoleonic wars.
The non-vintage is fresh and crisp with ripe fruit balancing citrussy zing while the vintage offerings are richer, fuller and more complex with notes of toasted brioche, almond and crushed green apple. La Grande Dame is the house's prestige cuvée - made only in exceptional years, the Champagne is produced using wines selected from Veuve Clicquot's Grand Cru vineyard holdings.
