Henri Giraud Argonne Prestige

Argonne is the apex of the Henri Giraud range, a step above the well-known Fût de Chêne. The wine is a vintage Aÿ Pinot Noir matured in tight-grained barrels coopered from oak that the maison hand-selects in the Argonne forest east of Reims — the historical timber for Champagne casks before steel and stainless took over.

Yields are minute (a few thousand bottles per release), the dosage is barely perceptible, and the style is built around the marriage of Aÿ fruit and the specific tannic structure of slow-grown Argonne oak.