Christmas Bubbles Part 1: Champagne Henriot

Since its founding in 1808, the House of Henriot has remained a family run enterprise and independent house, continuing a tradition of excellence that has ran for over 200 years. For seven generations, the family has selected their finest fruit from the finest vineyards to create some of the finest Champagnes in Reims.

The family believes in great Chardonnay and considers patience one of the most important factors in the creation of a great Champagne. By waiting, they allow their cuvee Champagnes to have to opportunity to reach its full expression.

As they are big believers in the Chardonnay grape they use a higher proportion of Chardonnay in their Champagne than many others, believing that their cuvees are more complex and refined than others with a fresh delicate aromas and a rich imposing structure, characteristic of their terroir.

We wanted to see for ourselves if these Chardonnay based wines had the power and intensity they claim so we caught up with Summergate Fine Wines in Hong Kong for a tasting of four of their Champagnes in the run-up to Christmas – with one eye on what will be served at the Wine Times office to celebrate the end of what has been a long and at times tiring but very fulfilling year.

We started with the Henriot Brut Souverain, their consistent house blend which is very approachable with good acidity and it, as expected Brut in style and crisp on the palate. Not bad at all we think for a simple everyday Champagne so we moved on up a step and, wanting to try something a little different went for their Rosé .

The Henriot Brut Rosé is elegant and delicate with subtlety and finesse. It has nice fruit flavour and again, being dry it was very palatable. We reckon this is better with some food and, as we are in Hong Kong, we think it will go especially well with light Chinese foods – ones that do not have too much sauce flavour, something like a steamed chicken or a simple pork dish.

Moving onto vintage Champagnes we first tried the Henriot Brut Millesime 2003 which was nice. Admittedly I prefer my vintages a little older and, given that 2003 was not the best vintage in the area, this was not at all bad, but still a little young and fresh. When we drink vintage, we want those baked apple and toasty brioche flavours that characterize vintage Champagne.

So, onto the final, and our favourite of the tasting. The Henriot Cuvee Des Enchanteleurs 1996 blew me away with its intense flavours and rich toasty characters. It is exactly what we look for in a great vintage Champagne and, honestly, if we were to pick one that symbolised a fantastic vintage flavour then this would be the one we choose.

Christmas is a time for indulgence and if you’re going to do something you might as well do it right. If long afternoons of drinking Champagne are your thing then go for the Rosé as your afternoon aperitif, but our suggestion is that you get your hands on some of the Cuvee Des Enchanteleurs, you really will not regret it.

Champagne Henriot is available in Hong Kong from Summergate Fine Wines.