Drappier launches Éclose 2012, a cask-aged champagne in an ovum-shaped bottle — a first for the region

What happened

Drappier has released Éclose 2012, a champagne aged in cask and presented in an ovum-shaped vessel. The house describes the release as a first for the Champagne region, combining a distinctive ageing approach with a bottle form that departs markedly from the conventions of the appellation.

Why it matters

The Champagne region has long been defined by its adherence to established methods and forms, from the shape of the bottle to the vessels in which wine rests before disgorgement. Éclose 2012 challenges both of those conventions simultaneously. Cask ageing is not unknown in Champagne, but the pairing of that technique with an ovum-shaped vessel — a format associated elsewhere with a particular philosophy of gentle, convective ageing — represents a step that no Champagne producer is said to have taken before.

For those who follow the region closely, the significance lies not merely in novelty. The choice of vessel and the decision to commit a 2012 vintage to this process signals a considered, long-term approach to experimentation. It invites questions about how the format may influence the wine's development and what it might mean for the broader conversation around ageing in Champagne.

Context

Drappier is a Champagne house based in the Aube, a sub-region that has historically occupied a distinct position within the appellation. The 2012 vintage is the base wine for Éclose, a year now more than a decade old at the time of release. The use of an ovum-shaped vessel — an egg-like form — has precedents in other wine regions, where it has been employed to encourage continuous, gentle movement of the wine during ageing. Its application to a cask-aged champagne, however, is presented here as without precedent in the region. The release was announced on 29 April 2026.