Arguably one of the world’s most recognizable Champagne brands, Veuve Clicquot, has released a new vintage of the iconic, La Grande Dame.
The release of the 2015 makes this the 24th vintage since 1972, when Veuve Clicquot launched its first prestige cuvée to celebrate the House’s bicentenary.
Though the traditional Yellow Label is what the brand is best known for in the everyday wine drinking crowd, La Grande Dame is an impressive showing of what the House has to offer in the world of extraordinary fine wine.
La Grande Dame de la Champagne
Madame Clicquot, or the widow (veuve) Clicquot, was a big fan of Champagne’s most famous black grape, Pinot Noir. Two hundred years ago, she made the comment, “Our black grapes give the finest white wines.” And it is this philosophy that carries over into the personality of Veuve Clicquot wines, where Pinot Noir reigns supreme in the blends. For the 2015 vintage, it comprises 90% of the blend.
The name of the House’s icon wine comes from the nickname bestowed upon Madame Clicquot, “La Grande Dame de la Champagne.” A name well deserved as one of Champagne’s visionary women, who, despite the death of her husband, continued to build their Champagne brand into what would eventually be one of the top luxury wines in the world.
La Grande Dame 2015
I recently had lunch with Cellar Master, Didier Mariotti, here in Miami. As we tasted La Grande Dame, he explained that the Pinot Noir grape expresses differently depending on where it is grown, and this is important to take into consideration when choosing the blend for vintage wines. It is up to Didier and his team to comb through a thousand samples of wine made from grapes grown in different villages to determine which of them is the finest expression of the grapes to include in the company’s most prestigious vintage Champagne.
In the case of the 2015, the grapes come from eight different historical Grand Cru sites in the region. As mentioned, the blend is 90% Pinot Noir, and 10% Chardonnay in keeping with Madame Clicquot’s vision and love for the black grape. The dosage is 6g/l, making the wine a lovely, balanced brut. Aging takes place for eight years before release, but there is potential for over 15 years of drinking excellence.
La Grande Dame is a wine of finesse and elegance with notes of white flowers, pear, green apple, lemon zest, white pepper, and fresh minerality. We enjoyed it alongside seafood and citrus-based dishes, but there is flexibility in this wine to pair with a range of cuisines.
The label for the 2015 bottle was designed in collaboration with Italian ceramicist, Paola Paronetto. Known as a master of colors, materials and shapes, Paola is a pioneer in ceramics and a sustainable innovator. She has used the same material that underlies many of her works in Paper Clay, ‘Cartoccio’ corrugated cardboard, as an artistic principle for the new gift box collection, which features La Grande Dame in six different colors designed to evoke optimism and celebrate a connection to nature.
Champagne lovers can find a bottle of La Grande Dame 2015 with Paola’s design and gift box on Wine.com for $239.97.
History & Wine 
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