![Champagne Henri Giraud "PR 90-19" (Champagne, France) - [TWI 98] [JS 97]](http://artisan.wine/cdn/shop/files/HG_90-19_{width}x.png?v=1729625957)
Champagne Henri Giraud "PR 90-19"
(Champagne, France) - [TWI 98] [JS 97]
Regular price $235.00 Sale price $219.97 Save $15.03
12-PACK PRICE = $209.97 per item (add 12+ quantity to your basket)
About the Wine:
Time plays a role in all great wine, though it is the essential ingredient in Henri Giraud’s inaugural Perpetual Reserve release – the PR 90-19. Inspired as much by philosophy and physics as technical curiosity, winemaker Sébastien Le Golvet set out to bend time and space to his will with this cuvée: a 3D time-elapsed journey through Henri Giraud vintage history. “At Henri Giraud, we speak in terms of centuries,” Sebastien explains.
The art on the bottle is his first metaphysical hint that time is factored into every element of this wine. The design is a stylized equation depicting the contraction of time and space. It’s meant to convey the span of vintages and spatial distances captured in this single cuvée. Everything factors into the equation. Oak barrels made from 90+-year-old trees, base wine from two different multi-vintage soleras that tell vintage stories dating back to the 1950s, time to barrel ferment and mature the Grand Cru base wines at the start, and the time to elaborate the finished wine.
Much discussion and many, many cigars later, Sébastien and owner Claude Giraud decided the perpetual reserve would be a blend of 1/3 Grand Cru reserve wine from the solera started in 1990, and that is designated for Giraud’s MV Fût de Chène. The other 2/3 would be from an older “Esprit Nature” solera dating to the 1950s. For the first perpetual reserve, the most recent contribution to the older solera was the 2019 vintage, hence the numeric ID “90-19” to represent the time stamp. “Reserve wines are the muscle,” Sebastièn believes. “They give all the memories of every harvest. A global vision of the vineyard.”
Ratings & Reviews
98 Points - The Wine Independent:
"The 100% solera-based PR 90-19 is an 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay blend. As with all the Giraud wines, it was barrel fermented in Argonne oak and has a minimum of 3 years on lees before disgorgement. This light rose-gold tinted wine is a vinous style of champagne that, except for two persistent columns of pin-head-sized bubbles, would easily fool the eye as a still wine. From an inch above the glass, the nose catches alluring notes of bruised apple, chestnut honey, orange blossom, and dried persimmon that slowly amplify in intensity to reveal a faint toastiness and whiff of salinity. The mouthfeel is luxuriously lithe and lively, built around a depth of concentrated fruit richness that is precisely fused with vibrant and supple acidity. The acid interplay is a stunner—like fluid energy tightly woven into condensed freshness. Not a single bubble pokes out of place. The 5g/l dosage puts this champagne in the extra brut territory, but all the fruit ripeness adds a lovely buoyancy to a long, clean finish. 8000 bottles were produced for sale. The Lot tasted here was disgorged on 13 January 2023. All disgorgement dates are etched on the bottle for full traceability." - Sarah Mayo (July 2023)
97 Points - James Suckling:
"The center palate to this is impressive with light salted caramel, toffee, dried apple and peach skin. It opens to reveal aromas and flavors of sea salt, oyster shell and chalk. Medium to full body. Some creme brulee. Creamy texture. Extremely long and complex at the end. 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay. Blend of two solera systems of perpetual reserve, started in 1990.” (July 2023)