It's been almost a decade since Moet & Chandon has released a completely new cuvee - but don't sweat it, if that were a concern, the world's best selling Champagne continued popularity certainly doesn't look like it.

So why now? As if 75,000 bottles (out of the House's annual 28 million bottles sold) - that's how many bottles of its new Collection Imperiale Creation No. 1 has been produced - was going to make a difference. 

Benoit Gouez, Moet & Chandon's Head Winemaker.

A Drop In The Champagne Ocean, Big Ripples Ahead To Be Expected

Look, no one spends the better part of their life readying themselves to be the cellar master of the pre-eminent House of Champagne, just so they can merely keep the status quo. Certainly not after 18 years at the helm of undoubtedly Champagne's most extensive vineyards and an even more vast wine reserves.

‘Like the petite robe noir, [the little black dress], Moët Impérial is our prêt-à-porter [ready-to wear]. Our vintage is more sur mesure, [made to measure], with more variation, telling the story of the year. There is a style to keep but, in the end, there is more freedom, it is more emotional than rational.’ says Gouez.

Moet & Chandon's Benoit Gouez is most definitely here to keep things fizzy - and when better than to celebrate the House's 280th Anniversary, with a sequence of editions to be launched every 2 years leading to the House's landmark 300th Anniversary - that'll be 10 creations within the Collection Imperiale to be enjoyed on that big occasion marked for 2043.

Sitting On 280 Years, Going On 300, Creation No. 1 Is The Epicenter Of Tension Between History And Modernity

Gouez's homage to the House therefore comes in the form of a striking white limestone chiselled out bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne that looks like it came right out of Roman temple - nah, that's instead artwork commissioned to American contemporary artist Daniel Arsham who has produced bottles of champagne in his iconic style of modern archaeology where he's blended a feature of modernity with a historical aesthetic in the form of unearthed white marble artefacts. For the occasion, 85 such white resin statuettes of Moet & Chandon champagne bottles have been made - certainly will make for great home decor.

Instead we've got with us a very sexy all black onyx bottle emblazoned with the name of the expression Moet & Chandon Collection Imperiale Brut Nature Haute Oenologie Creation No. 1. I must say the gold accents on the label in which the House's name is rendered in makes for a really luxurious contrast against the all black bottle. Very, very stylish. It's got understated elegance and style, and yet would look utterly eye-catching through any cellar window.

As I held the bottle in my hand, I could not help but ponder the implications of the Creation No. 1 - perhaps the choice to have Arsham and his very recognisable signature style rendered to commemorate the new cuvee precisely captures what was on Gouez's mind as he masterminded the commemorative lead-up to the House's landmark anniversary. A simple tweaking of the formula could've been easily well-received, why opt for such adventure? Maybe in 20 years time we'll look back at the Creation No. 1 as the very climax where one of the great Champagne houses had sought to close its eyes on 280 years of history and look towards its entering of a third century with a twinkle of modernity in its eyes. Is Moet & Chandon entering its Reinvention Era?

But what about that Haute Oenologie?

For a House that belongs to a stable of some of the world's most highly regarded luxury brands, it seems hardly out of place to term what is being done by the folks at Moet & Chandon haute oenologie, and yet considering that the term has only been applied for the Collection Imperial, it obviously reflects a shift in perspective. Subtle yet momentous - given that the Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial is one of the world's most recognisable and best-selling champagnes, it would be disingenuous to call it exclusive.

But with a 75,000 bottle outturn, this primes us to expect a departure from the classics, a breakaway from the safety and comfort that has done well for the House - this is perhaps Moet & Chandon's cue to us that we'll be taken to a territories not yet known. And suddenly, those two words could not convey more anticipation. I expect this to be something much more experimental and challenging - and who said a 280-year-old House can't still surprise?

And so on this fine evening at the iconic InterContinental Hotel Singapore, I was able to catch Moet & Chandon's Wine Experience Manager Marie-Christine Osselin on her Asia tour, who gave more colour to the new cuvee.

"Luxury is about choice. Having the choice to select from the most extensive vineyards; the largest reserve wine library, and working with so many growers. It is luxury when we are able to choose the components we want to work with."  

She's not wrong - as increasingly volatile growing conditions faces the region, having the ability to pick out particular components that display the specifically desired qualities is no small feat; not especially when the art of assemblage continues to reign as the centerpiece of Champagne mastery. Osselin continues on to elaborate on how science reinforces the art of Champagne-making at the House.

She talks about how it is vital that they assess the various aspects of each wine - the growing conditions, its provenance, how it responds to different methods of elevage (or how the wine is nurtured from fermentation to barrel and bottling) - and then connect that start point to how it translates into its various flavours, textures and tendencies. Only with a strong understanding of each component through generations of studying the bubbly can winemakers begin to think about piecing them together.

Some Interesting Choices To Be Made; A Champagne That Comes As It Is, Will It Pay Off?

"It's like 4D chess," says Osselin as she hits us with another memorable soundbite. Not wrong again - the Creation No. 1 is certainly complex in the technical sense, more than its straw-coloured bubbly appearance would indicate. The new expression sees the use of 7 vintages across three methods of elevage - the base is made of the classical 2013 vintage (42.5% of the cuvee), with then equal parts of the 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006 and 2000 vintages, and finally the remaining 15% coming from the 2004 vintage; the wines having been aged across wood, bottle and stainless steel. As for the fruit varietals used, we've got 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier, the latter of which has been something of a secret sauce with artisanal Champagne-makers, known for softening the heaviness of Pinot Noir and offering more richness to Chardonnay. It is a varietal whose use has become increasingly a matter of artisanship - you won't find it in Dom Perignon, but you will find it in Krug.

Beyond its composition, the cuvee has also been aged for nine years before its launch in late 2023, having been disgorged in early 2022 and left to further age for another year before its release. Yet perhaps what is most interesting about the Creation No. 1, and is perhaps also the starkest departure from the Moet & Chandon canon about this, is the choice to go no dosage, that is no sugar having been added to the Champagne (whereas it is tradition to add sugar to the final wine, which has been practiced for Moet & Chandon Champagnes thus far). This therefore underscores the Creation No. 1's characterisation of Brut Nature, that is having no further sugar added, and having overall less than 3 grams of residual sugar that's been leftover by the yeast.

As the name implies, this serves to showcase the wine's essential nature - of which its makers certainly believe there is much to appreciate. Gouez outlines the cuvee's ability to exemplify its minerality best in such conditions, and again goes back to the choice of a white resin aesthetic as rendered by Arsham, inspired by the wine's mineral backbone.

“We all need to evolve in life, as does Champagne.”

Benoit Gouez, Moet & Chandon Chef de Cave

It's lights out and away we go!

And so Osselin having introduced the star of today's launch tasting, as well as elaborated on the complexities of Champagne-making and additionally the work that the world's largest Champagne House sees itself engaging in, she then proceeds to take us through three expressions, culminating in the Creation No. 1. 

With the classic Brut Imperial and Grand Vintage 2013 sipped and reviewed separately, we finally give the highly anticipated Creation No. 1 a taste test. The effort and thought put into it is undoubtable, but the real question - and really the only thing that ultimately matters - is whether it stands up to the test? 

We find out below! Let's go!

Moet & Chandon Collection Imperiale Creation No. 1 Champagne - Review

Tasting Notes

Colour: Light Straw

Aroma: It leads with bright florals and citrus notes - elderflower, citrus pith, grapefruit, with a light bouquet of smokiness. The overt brightness and lightness here feels like purity and conveys a more au naturel sensibility. There's no heavy handedness or syrupy sweetness, it feels elegant with just an understated base of honey to give it a more balanced rather than overt richness. It's not immediately sweet. Going deeper, there's some brioche notes, and at its core is a concentrated bit of quince paste wrapped around by some pears. There's a chalkiness that resides around it but comes through more textural than aromatic.

Taste: Ooh great freshness, it's very creamy, has this sort of lifted quality, and feels brighter. We've got pears, quince, elderflower. The bready notes here - freshly broken baguette - is much more prominent, giving it some rustic sweetness of dough, with a bit of marzipan. There's also a more concentrated and focused bit of green fruit paste, pears massaged into pastry, green apples, some dried apricots too. It's got a good richness, medium-bodied, again, feels very pure and natural. It's most definitely showing more balance and cohesiveness - that dryness revealing more delicate and fine nuances. The citrusy notes are more apparent, more lime, lemon, grapefruit, it's all giving it a brighter acidity that stands up to the light doughy sweetness.  

Finish: There's a light salinity here, before we're back to the doughy sweetness that here feels almost alittle bit chewy. Light bitterness of grapefruit at the back, very subtle, accompanied by pears and elderflower. Really creamy, it sort of feels like the finish has no end, it recedes ever so softly before completely fading out before you even notice. It leaves behind a gentle crispness of effervescence, along with some more breadiness and lightly poached pears that feels very accommodating - the kind of residual taste you get from pear pie.

My Thoughts

Right away, this felt quite surprising - having had the Brut Imperial and the Grand Vintage 2013 leading up to this, the Creation No. 1 presented a completely different style of Champagne, one that felt alot more natural, showcasing more purity and complexity. In the bluntest of terms - it is certainly much more dry than the previous two - it's certainly not bone dry, with some sweetness still coming through, but unlike the classic Moet & Chandon style, here we don't get a big scoop of honey and syrup, orchard fruit juices and sweet honeyed brioche.

Instead, having brought down the sweetness to a base layer of organic honey, alot more is coming to the fore - there's a more pronounced elegance of the florals and citrus on the nose, of course we've also got that mineral backbone that reinforces those brighter, more delicate and lifted qualities. It feels like a true representation of the terroir - as wine fans would note, great soils are almost always chalky or limestone rich, which is not just good for growers in terms of excellent drainage, but for drinkers this translates to more acidity and complexity. The Champagne region is of course replete with these sort of terroirs.

And at the same time the pulling back of dosage - which by the way is a gutsy move, leaving the wine nowhere to hide if it were not of quality - reveals this lovely freshness that again speaks to the cooler climate enjoyed by the most renowned sparkling wine producing region. Two for two - we're really getting an evocative visualisation of the terroir with which the Creation No. 1 comes from.

This austerity in sweetness also means that balance is all the more critical here - and we do see a more subtle and delicate expression, albeit more lively and fresh with these citruses and green fruit, even the bready notes feels like freshly pulled dough. On the palate, we find that same soft and gentle richness - this purity drives home that artisanal quality here. Into the finish, this is turning its head towards expressing more in the way of texture, giving it a sort of chewiness, along with an incredibly plush receding of the sweetness, finally leaving us with some pear tarts. I really found this delectable, although it does bear some mindfulness as I tasted it to really be present and appreciate its finely rendered qualities.

I could see how the Creation No. 1 might be quite a shocker to those who follow closely the Moet & Chandon profile, yet I found it very delightful. Different - that's for sure. For me, this was a really positive kind of different. It feels that much more chiseled, elegant and complex. Here you really get a sense of the safety nets and layers of cosmetic peeled off, giving us a barefaced look at the true nature of the cuvee. It feels much more mature, and one that would not be out of place in a line-up of some of the region's most promising artisanal producers.

Reminiscing the Creation No. 1 as I make my way home from the showcase, I can't help but think that the most esteemed Champagne House has certainly convinced me that it's still got it - regardless its size, it remains artisanal at heart.