La Caravelle Champagne

La Caravelle makes three non-vintage Champagnes in Épernay: Cuvée Niña, Rosé and Blanc de Blancs. The house lists Niña as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier; its Rosé starts with the Niña base and adds 9% still Pinot Noir. The separate Blanc de Blancs is 100% Chardonnay from Grand Cru villages Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Chouilly.

Three distinct blends

Niña is the three-grape house cuvée. The Rosé follows an assemblage route, using still red wine to build on that base. The Blanc de Blancs moves in another direction, drawing entirely on Chardonnay from two Côte des Blancs villages. The distinctions are useful when choosing a bottle: Niña for a classic multi-grape blend, Rosé for the added Pinot Noir component, Blanc de Blancs for Chardonnay alone.

The La Caravelle connection

Rita and André Jammet created the Champagne in 1997 while running the New York restaurant La Caravelle. The restaurant closed in 2004, but the Champagne line continued. The producer says Niña and Rosé spend three years on lees and use reserve wines held in a solera; it lists two and a half years on lees for the Blanc de Blancs. Those are cuvée-specific details, not one cellar formula for every bottle.