The renaissance that returned the historic house of Charles Heidsieck to Champagne’s elite began when it was bought by Remy Martin 1985. Carte blanche was given to Heidsieck’s now-legendary winemaker, Daniel Thibault, to make Heidsieck a superstar. And so he did.

Tragically, Thibault died at age 55 in 2002. But his successors, Régis Camus and Thierry Roset, haven’t missed a beat, bringing Charles Heidsieck to the very pinnacle of the grande marque houses.

The veteran British Champagne writer Tom Stevenson sums it up this way: “I have ripped up my old list of Champagne’s greatest producers and started afresh with Charles Heidsieck firmly at the top. There are other great producers, but none that can match the consistency of Charles Heidsieck.”

And there is no greater example of this brilliance than the 2005 Charles Heidsieck Brut Millésime, easily one of the wines of the vintage. A consummate collaboration between Camus and Roset, its irresistible buttery richness, beautifully refined bouquet and texture and seamless balance clearly demonstrate them to be more than worthy successors to Thibault’s genius.