Champagne Henri Giraud Arro Ay Grand Cru Brut 2004 Magnum (150cl)
The 2004 Champagne Henri Giraud Arro is a brut white sparkling champagne crafted by Henri Giraud, originating from Aÿ in Champagne. This 2004 vintage Arro cuvée holds the Champagne Grand Cru classification. It expresses the distinctive terroir of Aÿ, the emblematic home commune of the Henri Giraud estate.
La bouteille proposée
- Size
- Magnum (150cl)
- Label Condition
- Perfect
- Fill Level
- Perfect
- Capsule Condition
- Perfect
Identité du vin
- Couleur
- Sparkling White
- Pays
- France
- Région
- Champagne
- Producteur / Domaine
- Henri Giraud
- Cuvée
- Arro
- Millésime
- 2004
Henri Giraud
A family estate established in Aÿ, Henri Giraud relies primarily on ten hectares of estate-owned vines in this grand cru-classified village. Its identity is built on Aÿ Pinot Noir, perpetual reserves, and precise vinification and aging in wood, notably in small casks sourced from the Argonne forest. The thirteenth generation is represented today by Emmanuelle Giraud, Chair of the Board of Directors, while Sébastien Le Golvet manages the estate and leads the cellar.
- Owner
- Famille Giraud-Hémart
- Maître de chais
- Sébastien Le Golvet
- Surface (ha)
- 10.00 ha
- Production (average bottles per vintage)
- 250000
Histoire du domaine
The winemaking history of the Hémart family in Aÿ has been documented since the spring of 1625, when François Hémart appears in parish registers among the bourgeois vineyard owners. Following the phylloxera crisis and the First World War, Madeleine Hémart married Léon Giraud in June 1918, a soldier then connected with Champagne; their son Henri was born the same year. Léon Giraud gradually reconstituted the parcels inherited by Madeleine, bringing the family vineyard to nearly three hectares in Aÿ. The Champagne Henri Giraud company was formally founded in 1975. Driven by Claude Giraud, the twelfth generation, the estate modernized its press and vat room while developing vinifications in small barrels: 10,000 bottles of the first Fût de Chêne Aÿ Grand Cru were cellared in 1991. The estate subsequently deepened the connection between the plots of Aÿ and the various forest terroirs of the Argonne; Sébastien Le Golvet, son-in-law of Claude Giraud, participated in his first harvest in 2002 and became cellar master in 2004. The François Hémart and Henri Giraud brands were later united under the name Champagne Henri Giraud. Emmanuelle Giraud, representing the thirteenth generation, currently chairs the board of directors; Claude Giraud is honorary president and Sébastien Le Golvet has been managing director since May 2023.
Arro
Arro is a 2004 vintage champagne crafted from Pinot Noir from Aÿ Grand Cru following an œil-de-perdrix approach. Initially born from an experimental trial, it was released in 2025 to celebrate the 400-year winegrowing history of the Giraud family. This commemorative edition exists exclusively in numbered magnums, with a declared production of 400 bottles.
- Origin of the cuvée name
- “Arro” comes from Latin and means “to plough” or “to cultivate the land”, as a tribute to working the land and its transmission between generations.
- Cuvée creation year
- 2004
- Style of the cuvée
- Vinous, powerful and structured champagne, marked by Pinot Noir, an earthy and chalky expression of Aÿ, followed by a mineral and saline finish.
- Position within the range
- Extremely limited anniversary edition intended for collectors, positioned outside the Maison's regular range.
Histoire de la cuvée
Crafted experimentally in 2004 and left uncommercialized for a long time, Arro was unveiled in 2025 to mark the four-hundredth anniversary of the Giraud family's winemaking establishment in Aÿ. Professional sources present it as an experiment foreshadowing some of the Maison's subsequent work on rosé champagnes.
