🍾 Canard-Duchêne Léonie Brut

Canard-Duchêne Léonie Brut is a non-vintage white Champagne in the Brut style from the house Canard-Duchêne in Ludes on the Montagne de Reims, part of its Iconic range.

The cuvée is named after the house's co-founder Léonie Duchêne; according to the house, the blend contains at least 40 % Pinot Noir. The house created the Iconic range for its centenary in 1968, in a bottle of its own; according to the house, these cuvées have a high share of Premier and Grand Cru grapes and of reserve wines, and longer cellar ageing.

The house Canard-Duchêne was founded in 1868 in Ludes, on the Montagne de Reims, by the cooper Victor Canard and the grower Léonie Duchêne.

The boundaries of the Champagne area were set by a law of 6 May 1919: parts of the Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne departments. The designation’s specification allows seven grape varieties, dominated by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; grapes are picked as whole bunches, that is by hand, and the yield is limited to 10,400 kg per hectare.

According to the Comité Champagne, Champagne is served chilled to 8–10 °C, and bottles are kept in the dark at a steady 10–15 °C, without vibration. An opened bottle is best closed with a sparkling-wine stopper and kept cold.

It is sold under the protected designation of origin Champagne: the bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, and the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage). Brut on the label is an EU sugar term: less than 12 g of sugar per litre.

Why it matters to you. According to the house, it comes in: a 0.75 l bottle and a 1.5 l magnum. No year on the label means it is not a vintage wine: the house may blend wines from different harvests. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.