2025 Champagne Academy Dinner Wines Announced

We are delighted to announce this years wines that will be served at the four annual dinners.

Veuve Clicquot is this years Presidential House, with Charles Heidseick as the Outgoing House and Krug as the Incoming House.

Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Blancs NV

HOUSE SAVOIR-FAIRE SERVING A REIMAGINED CUVÉE

Charles Heidsieck was one of the very first Champagne Houses to demonstrate its passion for Chardonnay by producing a Blanc de Blancs in its 1949 vintage. Through this cuvée, relaunched in 2018, two of the House’s areas of expertise come together: the production of great white wines and the art of blending a large selection of wines from different years and terroirs.

The non-vintage Blanc de Blancs expresses a style that is both fresh and vibrant, deep and generous, complex and delicate. It is a bold wine, elegant atypical, true to the Charles Heidsieck values.

Notes by Elise Losfelt,

Cellar Master for Charles Heidsieck

APPEARANCE

Pale, crystalline gold with the typical glints of the Chardonnay varietal.

ON THE NOSE

The aromas of mature Chardonnay can be recognised initially: white peach, candied citrus with notes of lime, honeysuckle and fresh hazelnut, giving way to subtle hints of tangerine and lemon.

ON THE PALATE

Freshness and tautness mark this typically Charles generosity: the attack is pure and forthright, not aggressive with a surprising suavity for a Blanc de Blancs and emblematic of the maturation of wines in two-thousand-year-old chalk cellars.

BLEND 100% Chardonnay

COMPOSITION 10 crus of Chardonnay with 25% reserve wines of an average of 5 years and 10-15% vinified in old Burgundy barrels

AGEING 3 to 4 years

DOSAGE 8g/l

TO BE ENJOYED Within 6 years

Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015

As Madame Clicquot used to say 200 years ago, “Our black grapes give the finest white wines” an affirmation that still rings true. Beloved for its versatility, the Pinot Noir grape expresses itself differently according to its growing conditions and the year in which it is harvested.

As a fine blend of Veuve Clicquot’s historical Crus, La Grande Dame is the pinnacle of the Maison’s oenological prowess, with an immense ageing potential.

APPEARANCE

Held up to the light, La Grande Dame 2015 reveals a beautiful, golden robe that sparkles brightly.

ON THE NOSE

This solar vintage, while elegant and precise, offers fresh minerality with light floral notes of jasmine and acacia on the nose, which evolve into fruity notes of pear and clementine.

ON THE PALATE

As for the first sip, it envelops the palate with a delightfully subtle, silky texture.

FOOD PAIRING

When it comes to food and wine pairing, La Grande Dame 2015 is the perfect match for Garden Gastronomy: a new, gastronomic experience inspired by La Grande Dame. A gastronomy straight from the garden, the best vegetables for the best grapes. Both assertive and sustainable in its luxury, Garden Gastronomy expresses itself through inverted dishes, where vegetables and fruits centre stage, while meat and fish are prepared like condiments.

BLEND 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay

COMPOSITION 8 historical Grand Cru vineyards

AGEING 7 years minimum

DOSAGE 6g/l

TO BE ENJOYED  Next 15+ years

Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rosé 2015

Did You Know?

ln 1818, Madame Clicquot broke with

tradition and created the very first blended rosé in Champagne.

Notes by Didier Mariotti,

Cellars Master for Veuve Clicquot

The Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rosé 2015 is a masterful expression of the house’s bold and refined style, shaped predominantly by Pinot Noir and enhanced by a delicate 10% of oak-aged wines. This thoughtful inclusion, alongside extended lees aging, imbues the champagne with remarkable power and aromatic complexity. The final blend features 13% red still wine made exclusively from Bouzy Grand Cru Pinot Noir, lending depth and intensity to its rosé character.

APPEARANCE

The wine is deep and inviting in colour

ON THE NOSE AND PALATE

The wine opens with delicate floral notes of jasmine, orange blossom, and linden, followed by bright citrus—yuzu, lemon, and mandarin. Layers of orchard fruits and ripe berries add richness, while jam, dried dates, and warm spices like clove and saffron bring depth. Earthy hints of green tea and mushrooms balance the palate, rounded out by brioche, puff pastry, and a gently woody finish of sandalwood and eucalyptus.

FOOD PAIRING

This champagne pairs beautifully with gourmet cuisine that emphasizes harmony and fusion—think surf and turf, contrasting fresh and warm elements, and sweet-salty balance—especially dishes from world cuisines rich in spice, such as Asian or Indian, like a monkfish tagine with dates and orange zest.

BLEND 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, 20% Meunier with 13% red wine from Bouzy Grand Cru

AGEING 7 years minimum on the lees, disgorged in 2022

DOSAGE 8g/l

TO BE ENJOYED  Next 15+ years

Krug Grande Cuvée 172eme Édition

THE MOST GENEROUS EXPRESSION OF CHAMPAGNE

Krug Grande Cuvée is born from the dream Joseph Krug to craft the very best champagne he could offer, every year, regardless of annual variations in climate.

Each year, Maison Krug honours his vision with a new Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée. Beyond the notion of vintage, Krug Grande Cuvée is always a blend of over 120 individual wines from more than 10 different years, expressing a fullness of flavours and aromas impossible to achieve with the wines of a single year.

"Krug Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition was composed around the harvest of 2016, a year of weather conditions so contrasted, they became a caricature of the climatic pendulum. An extremely wet spring, with 70% more rainfall versus the norm between April and June, made vineyard work difficult and increased disease pressure. Clement weather ensued from flowering onwards, allowing the vineyard to recover, ending with a heatwave at the end of ripening. The marathon harvest took place from September 9 to October 2 yielding classic grapes in good health and wines all about expression and character, regardless of grape variety or origin."

Notes by Julie Cavil,

Cellars Master for Krug

APPEARANCE

A light golden colour and fine, vivacious bubbles, holding a promise of pleasure.

ON THE NOSE

Aromas of flowers in bloom, ripe, dried and citrus fruits, as well as marzipan and gingerbread.

ON THE PALATE

Flavours of hazelnut, nougat, barley sugar, jellied and citrus fruits, almonds, brioche and honey.

FOOD PAIRING RECOMENDATIONS

Krug Grande Cuvée lends itself to a wealth of culinary combinations, from the simplest to the most sophisticated, from an aged parmesan to turbot à la truffe.

BLEND 44% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay and 20% Meunier

COMPOSITION Based on 2016 vintage with 42% reserve wines composed of 146 different wines from 11 years spanning 1998 to 2016

AGEING 6 years minimum

DOSAGE 6g/l

TO BE ENJOYED  Next 15+ years

UPCOMING EVENTS