Exploring Depth

 

The Crayères, our 2000-year-old Gallo-Roman cellars

photographed by Ljubodrag Andric

 

What better way of expressing the depth and intensity of Charles Heidsieck’s champagnes than through its chalk cellars thirty meters underground? The two are inextricably linked. The bottles mature in the shadows of the forty-seven white chalk chambers of the latter. The cellar imprints unparalleled depth and elegance to the wines, the hallmark of the house’s champagnes.

In order to convey this symbolism, the house commissioned the Italian-Canadian-Serbian photographer Ljubodrag Andric to immortalise this symbiosis.

Ljubodrag Andric has an international background and adventurous attitude, much like Charles-Camille Heidsieck, the house’s founder. Several similarities connect this photographer to the House: he constantly strives to underscore the shapes, lines and textures throughout his work, just as the Cellar Masters crafting a blend that attains the utmost elegance, texture, and long finish. Ljubodrag Andric has created five emotionally evocative photographs that, through abstraction, reveal all the subtleties of Charles Heidsieck wines. By playing with luminosity and focusing on the colouring and texture of the chalk walls, Andric majestically illustrates the singularity of each of the five emblematic cuvées.

Andric superimposes the bronze of the Brut Réserve against the millennia-old chalk wall to create a complex texture that reflects the cuvées multiplicity. As for the powdery pink of the Rosé Réserve, it resonates against the textured brilliance of the chalk. It is the same for Blanc de Blancs, whose freshness and lavish minerality, can be sensed thanks to the sheen cast over the blazingly white chalk walls. Photographed in front of the vein-ridden chalk, the imagery for the Brut Millésimé evokes the blend of crus which make up its composition. A deeper inspection reveals Andric’s attempt to convey the passing of time.

The Blanc des Millénaires, the house’s flagship cuvée is majestically encased by the millenia-old chalk walls where it is forged over a decade.

"Texture  is the entry door to understanding this champagne . It  is an inward voyage, a true multi-sensory experience."

 

LJUBODRAG ANDRIC