Champagne Cattier in Chigny-les-Roses

Champagne Cattier is an independent family house in Chigny-les-Roses, in the Montagne de Reims. Its story brings together a restored walled vineyard, deep historic cellars and a range that rewards comparison rather than a single description of the house style. The family traces its winegrowing roots to 1625; Jean Cattier began selling his own Champagne in 1918. Alexandre Cattier took over the company's leadership in 2011.

The estate covers about 33 hectares, mainly around Chigny-les-Roses, Ludes and Rilly-la-Montagne. Clos du Moulin gives this wider vineyard story a particularly clear focus: a named enclosure whose wines can be considered alongside Cattier's broader village blends.

Clos du Moulin: one vineyard, a changing blend

Jean Cattier bought the 2.2-hectare Clos du Moulin in 1950, when much of it was still damaged by war and overgrown. After restoring the vineyard, he harvested and vinified its grapes separately in 1951; the first bottles went on sale in 1955. The numbered bottles retain that single-vineyard identity, with both a Brut and a Rosé in the range.

Clos du Moulin has traditionally brought together three vintages. The current Brut specification instead combines a base year with a perpetual reserve. It gives 57% wine from 2018 and 43% perpetual reserve, with a grape blend of 73% Chardonnay and 27% Pinot Noir, and more than six years of cellar ageing. This is a useful wine for exploring how one place can be expressed through both a harvest and older reserve wines; the details should be checked against the bottle being offered.

Cellars and the style in the glass

Most of Cattier's cellars are beneath the family estate in Rilly-la-Montagne, not simply beneath its Chigny-les-Roses address. More than 150 years old, they reach almost 30 metres deep across three levels, with arches described by the house as Roman, Gothic and Renaissance. The two stairways have 119 and 136 steps, and the cellars can hold around two million bottles.

Blending and maturation are central to the wines. Cattier highlights Pinot Noir and Meunier for structure and fruit, with Chardonnay contributing finesse. Brut Premier Cru is a useful introduction: a blend of all three grapes with reserve wines, combining fruit with biscuit and brioche notes. Its current product page specifies more than three years of cellar ageing. For contrast, Blanc de Blancs is entirely Chardonnay, Blanc de Noirs combines Pinot Noir and Meunier, and Brut Nature has no added dosage. Those differences offer more to explore than expecting every Cattier wine to taste alike.

The Cattier range

The producer's catalogue includes Brut Premier Cru, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, Brut Rosé, Brut Nature, vintage Brut and vintage Meunier, as well as Saphir and the two Clos du Moulin wines. The Tradition selection includes Brut Icône, Brut Quartz and Dry. Anniversary releases add a 2018 Blanc de Blancs magnum and Raphaël Laventure editions. These are catalogue highlights, not a promised tasting flight or an assurance that every release is available.

Cattier also has a production history associated with Armand de Brignac. That is a separate Champagne brand, not a Cattier-labelled cuvée, and its wines should not be assumed to form part of a Cattier tasting.