Champagne Roland Champion, Special Club 2018
Grape Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Dosage: 4g/l - Extra Brut
Location: Chouilly, Champagne, France
Quick Facts:
- Aged 5 years and part of the select group of champagnes known as Special Club
The Special Club started in 1971. A dozen wine growers from some old families of Champagne had an idea to help people discover the originality and excellence of grower champagnes through select prestigious vintages.
The group today (now called The Club Trésors) is comprised of 28 artisan winemakers, each one selected for the quality of their work and each must adhere to a set of unrelenting quality standards:
- Each winemaker must make their champagnes entirely on their own premises and the champagne must be made exclusively from grapes harvested from their own vineyards.
- A Special Club champagne may only be made in outstanding vintage years and 4 years aging minimum is required.
- Each champagne is subject to two blind tastings by a panel of club members. First as a still wine before bottling and again after 3 years aging in bottle. The panel then selects which bottles may be releases with the Special Club designation.
This small grower and member of Champagne’s elite Special Club is located in the Grand Cru Village of Chouilly. The house was founded in 1929 by André Champion, who created his vineyard in the famous Cote des Blancs area of Chouilly, some of the best soils for the Chardonnay grape. Champagne Roland Champion is run by Roland’s son François, third generation of the family. He is the winemaker, and he runs the winery with the help of his family, including his fourth-generation daughters Carole and Clémence.
