A year of change at Champagne Canard-Duchêne

Champagne Canard-Duchêne has rebranded its prestige cuvée and reduced its bottle weight as the maison unveils a restructured range – and a new cellar master.

The new name for its flagship expression is the Iconic collection, which was previously known as Charles VII, and comprises four wines: Brut Léonie Iconic, Blanc de Noirs Iconic, Blanc de Blancs Iconic and Brut Rosé Iconic.

These last three of these Champagnes are now housed in an exclusive, specially shaped bottle that is 13% lighter than the former package.

Sitting below this top tier is a base-level range called the Essentiels collection, including Brut, Rosé, Demi-Sec and Réserve,and then the Savoir-Faire range, including P.181 Bio and Millésime 2015.

While these two latter tiers are aimed at the off-trade, the Iconic level is geared more towards fine-dining establishments.

Launched in 1968 as Charles VII to mark the centenary of Champagne Canard-Duchêne – which was founded by Léonie Duchêne and Victor Canard in 1868 – the top-end cuvée has always been housed in a special bottle with a narrow neck to reduce oxygen ingression and a wide bottom to provide more space for the lees during the pre-disgorgement ageing process in the maison’s cellars.

The lighter bottle has retained this shape, and now has a redesigned the label, with a “modern, streamlined look” according to Canard-Duchêne.

Meanwhile, in January this year, coinciding with the launch of the rebranding, the house named Cynthia Fossier (pictured below) as cellar master, following the retirement of Laurent Fédou.

Fossier, aged 33, has spent five years working alongside Fédou, who has worked at Canard-Duchêne since 2003.

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