The South of France is teeming with surprises and inspiration. Chandon‘s latest effervescent wine is a maverick blend that celebrates the diversity of its terroirs. This unique sparkling rosé wine offers a distinctively vibrant and aromatic tasting experience. Maison Chandon‘s latest drop springs from a vision of a place reputed for its incredibly fertile land and synonymous with blending. The South of France is a geographic location and the embodiment of inspiring smells, colours and tastes. Chandon winemakers explore a world of possibilities in the South of France, opening a new chapter in the House’s globetrotting wine adventures.
Chant Des Cigales is a rule–breaking meeting between pioneering winemakers and a place defined by a melting pot of innovative energy, co–created by a trio of winemakers and chefs de cave who combine their exceptional savoir–faire.
Audrey Bourgeois, the resident wizard and Chandon‘s head of winemaking innovation and technical coordination across the six international Chandon Maisons, Richard Geoffroy, the visionary who began his career as winemaker at Chandon in the mid–eighties before becoming the legendary chef de cave at Dom Pérignon, and Eric Lebel, a master of precision and chef de cave at Maison Krug for 22 years, are the three creators behind this one–of–a–kind meeting place.
The three winemakers shared a desire to work with signature grape varieties of the South of France, moving away from the confines of where the grapes were harvested. They wanted to create a vin d’auteurs rather than a wine from a single terroir. So, they crafted a unique blend that expresses the richly diverse character of the South of France. The breakout style of this contemporary sparkling rosé is about inclusivity, rather than exclusivity. The wine is frémissant, with a subtle effervescence and a captivating aromatic complexity. It is a brut nature that is both organic and vegan—a first for Chandon.
In 1959, Chandon was founded in the foothills of the Argentine Andes. They have been defined by sharing and passing on savoir–faire, and they draw inspiration from the diversity of their people to make exceptional sparkling wines. For Chant des Cigales, they have partnered with cooperatives and producers who are reputed for their organic vineyards. The creators also worked with the growers to choose the best technique to make the wine, looking at both traditional and innovative methods. Audrey, Richard and Eric are all in complete agreement that the Charmat method had to be used in order to preserve the wine’s primary fruity character and freshness.
After over two years of blending and tasting hundreds of compositions, they finally achieved the perfect balance. Making bold choices, such as adding grape musk to start the second fermentation, or fermenting the wine in pressure tanks at up to 4 bars, gave Chant des Cigales its characteristic subtle yet persistent effervescence. Their over-arching obsession was crafting a unique brut nature sparkling wine that would reveal the full complexity and diversity of the fresh fruit aromas, without any addition of sugar in the final stage.
The composition of Chant des Cigales is delicate yet vivid, and it pairs well with a variety of dishes. The flavours shift and release a bracing minerality, making it an intriguing and complex wine.
Image credit © ARR
