Henri Giraud PR 20/90 Argonne Brut Multi-Vintage Champagne 750ml

Robert Parker said that Henri Giraud's Champagnes are how Krug should taste. That sentence — from the most influential wine critic of the 20th century, comparing a relatively unknown grower-producer from Aÿ to the most prestigious house in the Champagne appellation — is not a compliment. It is a verdict. It is Parker saying that the most famous Champagne house in the world has been outpointed, on its own terms, by a 12th-generation family in Aÿ who barrels-ferment in wood from the Argonne forest and has never wanted to produce more wine than they can make exceptionally.

Henri Giraud produces approximately 250,000 to 300,000 bottles annually — roughly 8% of Louis Roederer's annual production. They could increase that by 100,000 bottles. They have no intention of doing so. The flagship single-vintage Argonne cuvée — the prestige wine that attracts scores of 96, 97, and 98 from Antonio Galloni, James Suckling, and Jancis Robinson — is limited to 5,000 bottles in the world. The PR series that shares the Argonne oak heritage is the most accessible and the most broadly available expression of what makes Henri Giraud genuinely extraordinary.

The PR 20/90 is a Perpetual Reserve Champagne — a multi-vintage expression built from two solera systems, the younger having started in 1990 and replenished with 20% new wine each year since, the older dating to the 1950s, both blended and then finished in the Argonne oak that is the house's most defining and most specifically unique production distinction. Argonne forest oak — gentler on the wine than other French forests, more specifically aromatic, and the source of Henri Giraud's most immediately distinctive quality signal — imparts the specific toast, smoke, spice, and oxidative complexity that no Champagne house in the appellation produces in the same way.

James Suckling described the PR: "pie crust, cedar, nutmeg, dried apples, and pineapple — full body with a layered mouthfeel — lots of tea-leaf, dried-fruit, and apple-pie flavors yet tight and focused. Slightly spicy finish." The Champagne Company noted 96 Points and called it a wine where "space and time are suspended, and complexity, fruit, and spirituality intertwine with shimmering wreaths of orange blossom shot through with flashes of chalk and bitter minerality." A specialist reviewer found it has "as much in common with a mature grand cru still white as it does with its peers in Champagne."

This is the house that Parker compared to Krug. At the Perpetual Reserve level. In Argonne oak. From a solera that has been running since 1990.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Henri Giraud is a grower-producer in Aÿ — the Grand Cru village in the Montagne de Reims whose specific combination of deep chalk soils, southern exposure, and the specific Marne Valley microclimate produces Pinot Noir of extraordinary concentration and aromatic complexity. The house traces its continuous family occupation of Aÿ's vineyards to 1625, with Claude Giraud now serving as the 12th generation of the Giraud-Hémart family to preside over the domaine. That continuity — nearly four centuries of the same family farming the same Grand Cru hillside — is the most immediately remarkable and the most specifically unusual production provenance available for any Champagne house at any price level.

The Argonne oak is the house's most defining and most commercially significant production distinction. While virtually every other Champagne producer uses old, large, neutral oak vessels whose contribution to flavor is minimal by design — the prevailing philosophy being that Champagne's character should come from the grapes, the terroir, and the lees, not the wood — Henri Giraud uses smaller, newer Argonne oak barrels whose active wood contribution is intentional, precisely managed, and the source of the specific toast, smoke, cedar, and spice complexity that distinguishes every Henri Giraud Champagne from every other house in the appellation. Henri Giraud recently entered into an agreement with the ONF (French National Forest Office) whereby 10,000 trees will be planted over ten years — the most specific and the most literally sustainable wood management commitment available for any Champagne producer.

The PR 20/90 Argonne is built from two solera systems. The more recently established perpetual reserve was created in 1990, replenished by 20% each year — each annual addition of new Grand Cru Aÿ wine joining the accumulated wines of every prior year dating back to 1990, with the oldest components having spent over 30 years in the solera before any given bottle is disgorged. The older solera dates to the 1950s, providing even deeper reserve wine complexity. The blend is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay — consistent with Aÿ's natural Pinot Noir dominance — barrel fermented in Argonne oak and given a minimum of three years on lees before disgorgement. Dosage 5g/L — extra brut territory.

Critics Reviews

James Suckling (PR series review): "Pie crust, cedar, nutmeg, dried apples and pineapple as well as dried flowers follow through to a full body with a layered mouthfeel. Lots of tea-leaf, dried-fruit and apple-pie flavors yet tight and focused. Slightly spicy finish. Drink or hold."

The Champagne Company — 96 Points: "This has so much energy and vivacity and refined, vinous character. PR 20/90 introduces amazing energy to a great white wine and opens up a whole new dimension: one in which space and time are suspended, and complexity, fruit, and spirituality intertwine with shimmering wreaths of orange blossom shot through with flashes of chalk and bitter minerality."

Farr Vintners (PR solera characterization): "This cuvée has as much in common with a mature grand cru still white as it does with its peers in Champagne. The nose is rich and complex, layering ripe orchard fruit with honey, dried fig and sherried almond notes. The palate blends the verve and flesh of youth with the deep complexity of maturity. Intense, layered and deeply savoury — brioche, fresh custard, white peach, toasted hazelnuts and more dried fig."

PR 90-19 Independent Specialist Reviewer: "From an inch above the glass, alluring notes of bruised apple, chestnut honey, orange blossom, and dried persimmon slowly amplify in intensity to reveal a faint toastiness and whiff of salinity. The mouthfeel is luxuriously lithe and lively, built around a depth of concentrated fruit richness that is precisely fused with vibrant and supple acidity. The acid interplay is a stunner — like fluid energy tightly woven into condensed freshness."

Robert Parker: "Henri Giraud's Champagnes are how Krug should taste."

Quill & Pad: "The greatest Champagne you've never heard of."

Tasting Profile

Nose Straw gold with a faint rose-gold blush — the perpetual reserve's accumulated complexity and the Argonne oak fermentation producing a color of unusual warmth and depth for a non-vintage Champagne. The nose opens with the quality that makes Henri Giraud immediately and unmistakably different from every other Champagne in the appellation: the Argonne oak's specific aromatic contribution threading through every note. Bruised apple and orange blossom arrive first with the warm, slightly concentrated quality that decades of solera accumulation produces from Grand Cru Aÿ Pinot Noir. Chestnut honey adds the most specifically and the most beautifully unusual secondary aromatic note — warm, slightly wild, and entirely characteristic of the PR's perpetual reserve complexity. Dried persimmon adds further exotic fruit depth. Faint toastiness from the Argonne oak adds the most specifically Henri Giraud-distinctive secondary quality. Pie crust and cedar add the James Suckling characterization's most evocatively food-adjacent notes. Nutmeg and dried apples add warm spice and orchard fruit. A whiff of salinity — the Aÿ chalk terroir's most elemental mineral contribution — adds the most delicate and the most specifically terroir-expressing aromatic quality. Orange blossom, chalk, and bitter minerality add the shimmering complexity that The Champagne Company found most specifically extraordinary.

Palate Full-bodied, layered, and vinous — the quality that the Farr Vintners' most accurate characterization identifies as the PR's most important and most specifically unusual palate distinction: "as much in common with a mature grand cru still white as it does with its peers in Champagne." The entry delivers the concentrated fruit richness that the solera's accumulated 30-plus-year depth builds — ripe orchard fruit, honey, and the warm Pinot Noir fruit weight of Aÿ Grand Cru at full perpetual reserve concentration. The mouthfeel is luxuriously lithe — the "luxuriously lithe and lively" characterization confirmed in the most unexpected and the most specifically unusual textural quality for a Brut Champagne at this price level. Brioche and fresh custard add the most indulgent secondary richness. White peach and toasted hazelnuts add the most complementary fruit-and-nut mid-palate complexity. Dried fig deepens the secondary fruit. Tea-leaf, dried-fruit, and apple-pie flavors add the James Suckling characterization's most specifically aged and the most specifically Argonne-oak-influenced secondary dimensions. The acid interplay — "a stunner, like fluid energy tightly woven into condensed freshness" — carries every flavor through to the finish with the precision that only Grand Cru Aÿ terroir and a 1990 solera's accumulated complexity together produce.

Finish Long, spiced, and slightly smoky. The slightly spicy finish from the Suckling note carries the close most persistently alongside the Argonne oak's most enduring contribution — a specifically toasty, slightly smoky, and specifically wood-aged quality that is unique in the appellation and confirms every ounce of what makes Henri Giraud genuinely worth the Parker comparison. Orange blossom and chalk minerality linger as the most delicate and the most terroir-specific final aromatics. Tea-leaf and dried fruit persist. Long, layered, and deeply satisfying.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

The Argonne oak, perpetual reserve complexity, and Aÿ Grand Cru Pinot Noir weight make this the most food-versatile and the most food-serious Champagne in the Blackwell's section:

• Lobster with brown butter — the brioche and custard meeting the richest shellfish preparation
• Roasted chicken with truffle — the vinous Pinot Noir weight bridging white meat and earthy truffle
• Aged Comté or Gruyère — the nutty, slightly smoky oak notes aligning with aged cow's milk cheese
• Foie gras — the honey, dried fig, and vinous complexity of the perpetual reserve meeting their most classic pairing
• Smoked salmon — the salinity and toast amplifying the smoke dimension
• Mushroom dishes — the tea-leaf and earthy complexity finding natural allies