Maison Gardet has been making Champagne since the late 1800s – relying on a combination of tradition, modern techniques, and meticulous sourcing to create their portfolio of thirteen spectacular cuvees that spread across all conceivable styles of Champagne. This cuvee, selected from their rare “Prestige" series, is named for the founder of their house, Charles Gardet, and it is simply exceptional. All 2007 vintage fruit, with select Grand Cru and Premier Cru grapes (70% chardonnay, 30% pinot), and aged for an incredible fourteen years on the lees (something like 98% of all Champagne spends less than three, by the by). Everything here is simply pristine – and the price we scored makes it that much more impressive. 

Charles Gardet’s son, Georges Gardet, moved the house to the charming village of Chigny-les-Roses in the 1930s and it has thrived in this lesser-known town ever since (alongside the Lasalle Family and Armand de Brignac, to name a few). In 2007, the same year these grapes were harvested, the estate was sold to the Prieux family, with Christophe Prieux running both this and the neighboring domaine of Maison Ployez-Jacquemart. The Prieux family’s roots to Champagne can be traced to the 1600s, and with Gardet’s rise in quality over the short few years of his ownership… this just might be the best Champagne house you’ve never heard of. 

Over the past few years, we’ve been blown away by the steady improvement of quality amongst the Gardet portfolio. This is an ancient house that has thrived under new ownership and a full-scale facility modernization… perhaps most obviously with this flagship cuvée. The balance here is utterly superb, fermenting in stainless and blocking malolactic fermentation to allow for a bright and pervasive freshness to survive the long aging. But there’s plenty of creaminess, too, and the interplay between both is fascinating to experience. Toasty hazelnut, lemon curd, and apricots, plus croissants, crushed oyster shells and so much more. Long and lingering on the finish, too – with a warm spiciness and a lasting complexity. I’ll say it again, this is something you’ll want in great supply – and rare, vintage, extensively aged Champagnes such as this don’t come around every day!