It’s difficult to imagine how Champagne could be made even more magical, but Champagne growers and producers from the Grand Cru producing towns and villages are doing just that. The Grand Crus are the exceptional champagnes from the exceptional growing districts of Champagne country in eastern France. When it is marked Grand Cru de Champagne on the bottle it means that the Champagne is made from grapes that only come from one or more listed Grand Cru villages. Grand Crus are loosely defined as superior wines — Champagne is technically wine — and in Champagne country only 17 communes out of 317 vine growing towns and villages are classified as Grand Cru. These are the resounding names in Champagne country Chouilly, Cramant, Aÿ…This collective adventure is the Grands Crus d’Exception de Champagne (Exceptional Grands Crus of Champagne) and its aim is to defend the knowhow, the understanding of the good earth and the joie de vivre of the Grands Crus all the while promoting and offering a discovery of the Grands Crus of Champagne. Each house and their respective Champagnes have their own unique identity as was made apparent during a tasting they held in Paris this year. 

But that isn’t all. With the 2017 harvest, a vintage year in Champagne, they joined forces to elaborate a blend of these 17 Grands Crus into a single Champagne. This exceptional Champagne, bottled only in magnums (the taste is superior to that in a bottle) will be made available in 2023 or 2024. Each of the 17 winemakers from the 17 Grands Crus regions offered up 518 pounds (235 kilos) of grapes for what is destined to be an exceptional Champagne. The grape varieties in the upcoming magnums are a classic blend found in Champagnes, 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. The Champagne has been christened C17 referring to the 17 towns listed as Grand Cru. The C17 vintages are aged for at least four years. Special to The Gourmet Gazette

Most of the Champagne houses in the association can be visited on appointment. For more information on the association and the individual winemakers visit: https://www.grands-crus-exception.com/en/