View 2013 Champagne Catalog - Michael Skurnik Wines

Gaston Chiquet
Vallée de la Marne // Dizy
vineyard area // 23 hectares
annual production // 18,300 cases
villages & soil types // Aÿ Grand Cru, Mareuil sur Aÿ 1 er Cru, Hautvillers 1 er Cru,
Dizy 1 er Cru (belemnite chalk); Crugny, Nanteuil la Forêt (chalk and clay)
grape varieties // 45% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Meunier, 20% Pinot Noir
I drank a glass of the NV while out to dinner recently. And as I did I felt the same
admiration and affection I always feel for that wine, because it so perfectly threads
the needle between its silken precision and its forward fruit. It’s not jumping through
hoops of fire of terroir, it’s just saturated with caring and craftsmanship.
Vallée de la Marne
Gaston Chiquet
And yet in a way we’re tasting pure terroir in Chiquet.
Except for the definite Meunier fruit of the NV, nearly all
of the other wines are anti-varietal, even the Chardonnay
from Aÿ, which is less a Chardonnay and more a dialect
of Aÿ we don’t usually hear.
Peter Liem writes: “This is one of the finest
grower estates in the Grande Vallée de la Marne.
Chiquet’s wines combine a generous depth of fruit
with a pronounced character of place—if you want
to know what the wines of the Grande Vallée should
feel like, these are an excellent introduction. Chiquet’s
wines generally show well young, thanks to the forward
fruitiness of their Marne terroirs. Yet with their balance
and depth they can also age extremely well, even the
non-vintage Brut Tradition, as I’ve seen from several old
examples dating all the way back to 1964.”
We sell a lot of Chiquet, though I sense the Champagne
is in some way misunderstood. By me as well. I am struck
by how chiseled and articulate Nicolas’ wines are. I usually
think of them as either chalky or fruity, but really they are
precise, careful and thorough. I wrote they were “quiet
heroes,” because they don’t often get the attention some
of the others do.
This is a large estate as Récoltants go, with 23 hectares.
Chiquets have vineyards in Hautvillers, Mareuil-sur-
Aÿ and in Aÿ, from which they make what is probably
the only all-Chardonnay Champagne to emerge from
this Pinot Noir town. Their base wines always undergo
malolactic, but the Champagnes are quite low in dosage,
yet they have a suave caramelly richness.
I’ve sometimes heard myself say that Chiquet’s
N.V. is what Moët & Chandon’s should be. There’s a
walnutty style they have in common. Mind you, I don’t
clamor for opportunities to drink the Big Fella, but
one time we were surprised with a bottle and two flutes
waiting in our room when we checked into a hotel we
frequent. Curiosity got the better of me, and we opened
it. The Champagne was “correct” and a little bland and
featureless, and I felt sad that it represented “Champagne”
to so many unwary people, who probably don’t think they
like Champagne and wonder why it costs so much. Yet at
the same time I felt considerable admiration; considering
the volume that’s churned out, this wine might have
been much worse. I felt it was an industrial wine made
with a certain scrupulousness. The parent-company’s
business practices are another story, but the wine held up
its end. Of course it was the Brut Imperial, and it was a
European bottle....
I was at Chiquet less than a week later and played that
Moët back in my head when Nicolas’ N.V. was served.
Chiquet has more character in every way, more fruit, more
interplay of flavors, clearer diction, just more interesting
and tasty.
Gaston Chiquet at a glance // 23 hectare estate means we can get some wine to sell! Which is lucky for us,
because these are sensually gorgeous, hedonistic wines that everyone can cozy up to.
how the wines taste // They taste focused, refined and friendly. Even at their ripest they’re slim and even at their
tallest they’re willowy. They taste like the wines of a man who respects his land. They split the difference between
the really adamantly mineral Champagnes and the overtly fruity ones. They are classical, not romantic. They are
thoughtful but not aloof, like their maker!
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