Radically reconceptualising the idea of non-vintage champagne, the Chiquet brothers’ 700 series champagnes are best enjoyed and treated as vintage cuvées. Based on the 2017 harvest, Cuvée No. 745 is composed of Pinot noir, Meunier and Chardonnay cropped from Aÿ, Dizy and Hautvillers in the Vallée de la Marne (66%) and Avize and Oiry in the Côte des Blancs (34%).

A challenging year, destructive spring frosts ravaged the vineyards in April, especially in the Côte des Blancs, and the end of the growing season was hot but very wet. Rigorous sorting at harvest resulted in a low volume of ripe and healthy grapes, which were then vinified in oak casks, creating a rich and dense cuvée completed with a small proportion of reserve wine.

Disgorged in December 2021 and finished with a very low dosage of 0.75 g/L, Cuvée No. 745 was neither fined nor filtered.

A flush of liquid gold as aromas of orchard fruit, pineapple and toasted bread knit together, swathed in honey. The flavours are no less precise—spilling with notes of yellow plum, red apple and freshly picked stone fruit as a line of acidity crescendos on the palate with great intention. Chiselled though showing a stony richness, the persistent finish is defined by a through-line of refreshing minerality that is texturally odyssean and remarkably pure. A cuvée of mythic proportions that is completely befitting of such a legendary series.

Best enjoyed from the Lehmann P. Jamesse, Synergie 60 Ultralight handmade glass.

Enjoy with crunchy veal schnitzel served with a wedge of lemon and a fresh herb salad or a tender cut of wagyu steak, cooked to your liking, lightly seasoned with flaky salt then drizzled with fresh lemon juice.