Gaston Chiquet 'Tradition' Brut

And if the plan already includes a toast, it helps to sort out who is who on this listing first. The Skurnik name here belongs to the importer, not the winemaker: the company says it was founded in 1987 and today represents more than 800 producers of wine, spirits, sake and cider. The wine itself is Gaston Chiquet's 'Tradition' Brut, from Champagne. We do not have a shopper rating for this wine, so what follows rests on the place name and the importer's own account of the producer.

Champagne is a protected French appellation; the production area was fixed by law in 1927, and only wine made inside that area under its rules carries the name. The area sits near the northern edge of dependable grape growing, where ocean and continental weather meet, and regional authorities say the cool conditions and moderate rain help the grapes hold their acidity, with frost and storms remaining regular risks. Those authorities also describe one appellation made of many small vineyard plots and several distinct growing areas, where blending across grapes, places and years is common practice, so the producer's own choices still shape what ends up in the glass. In our September 2026 checks it was priced between $61.99 and $66.99. For an evening that seems to ask for a proper toast, is the protected place name the point, or would another sparkling wine do the job?

The importer's two pages for this wine disagree on the blend: the product page lists it as 40 percent Meunier, 35 percent Chardonnay and 25 percent Pinot Noir, while the producer profile gives 40 percent Chardonnay, 40 percent Pinot Meunier and 20 percent Pinot Noir. Both pages agree on the source, four sites in the Vallée de la Marne: Hautvillers, Dizy and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ at premier cru level, Aÿ at grand cru, on clay and limestone over chalk. The producer states its winemaking choices directly: malolactic fermentation, no oak at all because, in winemaker Nicolas Chiquet's words, 'concentration, fruit maturity and malolactic fermentation impart enough body and texture' without it, more than 48 months on the spent yeast, and a dosage, the sugar added at the end to set final sweetness, of 6 grams per litre. Wine Spectator scored it 92 points, calling it balanced enough for an aperitif with a 'refined mousse'; Vinous and Jeb Dunnuck each scored it 90.

The house's roots run to 1746, when Nicolas Chiquet, an ancestor of the current winemaker of the same name, planted the family's first vine; formal registration as Gaston Chiquet came in 1935, after brothers Gaston and Fernand Chiquet had produced Champagne under other family names since 1911. Eight generations later, the family still farms the same Marne Valley ground, now 23 hectares, and produces about 14,000 cases a year across the range.

Our call: buy it on the producer's account and the critics' word if that is enough without a crowd rating; Nicolas Chiquet farms the same Marne Valley ground his family has worked since 1746, states his winemaking choices plainly including a no-oak approach, and Wine Spectator, Vinous and Jeb Dunnuck have each scored the wine in the low 90s. Pass if you want a confirmed blend or a shopper rating before you buy; the importer's own two pages disagree on the exact grape percentages, and no rating has reached our record yet.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.