Esprit Nature NV
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2029
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
fresh oysters, roasted chicken, soft cheeses
✨ Technical Specifications
Henri Giraud's Esprit Nature NV represents a revolutionary step in Champagne, serving as a vibrant manifesto for environmental purity and natural winemaking. Crafted primarily from the historic terroir of Aÿ, this cuvée is celebrated for being certified free of pesticide residues. The wine is vinified in a combination of oak barrels crafted from the nearby Argonne Forest and sandstone jars, a method that allows the wine to breathe and develop its signature vinous texture without losing its bright, mineral core. The label itself, featuring the paper oak tree, pays homage to the Argonne forest that shapes the house's identity. It is a Champagne of remarkable energy, complexity, and purity, bridging the gap between ancestral tradition and modern ecological consciousness.
🍾 About the Producer
Rooted in the historic Grand Cru village of Aÿ since 1625, Champagne Henri Giraud represents a benchmark in vinous, artisanal Champagne production. Stewarded by 12th-generation proprietor Claude Giraud alongside cellar master and son-in-law Sébastien Le Golvet, the house is renowned for championing Pinot Noir cultivated on deep, south-facing belemnite chalk slopes. Henri Giraud is celebrated for reviving the historical practice of fermenting and maturing base wines exclusively in new and seasoned casks coopered from local Argonne Forest oak, as well as sandstone and terracotta amphorae, entirely eliminating stainless steel. Viticulture adheres to rigorous sustainable standards, eschewing pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides under a certified zero-residue protocol. The estate produces richly textured, vinous champagnes defined by intense chalky minerality, structural depth, and micro-oxygenated nuance. Flagship cuvées include the prestigious vintage oak-aged Argonne, the perpetual reserve multi-vintage Fût de Chêne MV series, and the PR Perpetual Reserve bottlings.
🍇 Grapes
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
🍷 ABV
12%