2019 Gaston-Chiquet Champagne Brut Carte d'Or Millesime

Gaston-Chiquet's 2019 Carte d'Or Millésime is a Premier Cru Champagne produced only in exceptional vintages, built from equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sourced from estate holdings in the Marne Valley commune of Dizy. This is the house's flagship vintage bottling, disgorged in October 2024 after five years on lees with a restrained 3 grams per liter dosage, which preserves the wine's clarity and allows the minerality of the lieu-dit vineyards to speak. The 2019 vintage in Champagne delivered ideal ripeness and tension, and this bottling captures both. The Gaston-Chiquet estate has been in the family since 1919, when Ferdinand Gaston and Fernande Chiquet founded the domaine in Dizy, a Premier Cru village known for producing fruit with both weight and finesse. Today the house farms twenty-three hectares across the Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs, with the majority of their parcels classified Premier Cru. The Carte d'Or Millésime is only made in years when the harvest shows the balance and structure to age gracefully, and the fruit undergoes primary fermentation in stainless steel before extended time on lees to build complexity. Dizy's chalky subsoil imparts a stony backbone that runs through the blend, a signature of this terroir when handled with restraint. The 2019 pours bright golden-yellow in the glass, with a clean, elegant mousse. The nose opens with pineapple and candied tropical fruit, underscored by red berry notes and a hint of warming spice that emerged in later tastings. On the palate the wine is medium-bodied, with tension and a silky texture framed by that stony minerality from the chalk. There's an elegant hint of creaminess without heaviness, and the finish is focused and long. This is approachable now but built for the cellar—drink it from 2027 through 2045, paired with oysters, seared scallops, roast chicken with lemon, or aged Comté. Available for pickup at our Lincoln Park bottle shop at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.