Armand de Brignac

Style

Armand de Brignac is best recognised by its metallised bottle and pewter Ace of Spades crest. The line is a multi-vintage assemblage in the prestige tier, drawing on the three classical Champagne grapes — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier — across vintages and villages on the Montagne de Reims and beyond. Every cuvée is a non-vintage prestige expression except where explicitly released as a millésime.

Range

• Brut Gold — the flagship, an assemblage in the gold-finish bottle that gave the brand its Ace of Spades nickname.
• Rosé — pink-finish bottle, Pinot-led blend.
• Blanc de Blancs — silver-finish bottle, 100% Chardonnay.
• Blanc de Noirs — black-finish bottle, blended from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
• Demi-Sec — sweeter dosage, in the same gold-finish format as Brut Gold.

History

Armand de Brignac was launched in 2006 as a brand developed by Sovereign Brands in collaboration with the Cattier family of Chigny-les-Roses, who supplied the wine and continue to make every bottling. The label appeared in the music video for Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got" the same year. Shawn Carter took the trademark outright in 2014. In February 2021, LVMH-Moët Hennessy acquired a 50 percent stake from Carter, making the two equal partners in the brand.

Ownership and production

Armand de Brignac is structured as a brand rather than a maison in the historical sense: the cellar of record is Champagne Cattier, founded in 1763 and based in Chigny-les-Roses on the Montagne de Reims, with roughly 33 hectares under vine. The brand's commercial ownership sits with LVMH-Moët Hennessy and Shawn Carter on a 50/50 basis, while the wine itself is sourced, vinified, blended, aged and bottled in the Cattier cellars.