DRY RUN

Reserve wines are used as bases in the production of non-vintage champagnes, and Veuve Clicquot famously owns one of the largest reserve collections. Six of these wines have diverged from the path of the signature Yellow Label to make the Extra Brut Extra Old. These vintages – a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and meunier from as far back as 1988 – have been aged on lees in vats for at least three years and matured for another three in bottle, thus the label “Extra Old”. This gives the champagne suppleness and complexity, requiring an all-time low dosage of 3g of sugar, making this the first “Extra Brut”.