Wine Producer Spotlight: Alexandra Sainz

Rising Star of Bouzy: Alexandra Sainz

Alexandra Sainz is the kind of producer you remember long after the glass is empty. Effortlessly charming in person, she brings the same grace and clarity to her Champagne. While her estate was formally launched only in 2021, her roots in Bouzy run far deeper.

Alexandra represents the ninth generation of her family to farm vineyards in Bouzy, a Grand Cru village renowned for powerful, expressive Pinot Noir. Her family has cultivated grapes here since 1741, weathering wars, phylloxera, and shifting eras of Champagne. The house she grew up in still stands as a quiet witness to that history.

Raised among the vines, Alexandra worked alongside her parents from an early age, learning the rhythms of vineyard life firsthand. She later formalized that foundation at the École Viticole de Champagne in Avize, earning her degree in viticulture and oenology. The training sharpened her focus, but the philosophy was already ingrained.

A Sense of Place

Her vineyards sit on south and southeast-facing slopes with excellent drainage and sunlight exposure. Pinot Noir dominates the plantings, delivering structure, depth, and aromatic intensity. Small parcels of Chardonnay add lift, freshness, and mineral tension. Vine age varies from newly replanted plots to parcels over forty years old, contributing both energy and complexity.

Today, Alexandra farms roughly seven acres, tending each plot with precision and restraint. Rootstocks and clones are matched carefully to soil and exposure, allowing each site to speak clearly. The goal is not excess, but balance. Not weight, but expression.

Wines That Speak of Place

Her debut release, the 2013 & 2014 Champagne Alexandra Sainz Brut Grand Cru Bouzy, immediately announced her intent. It is a Champagne rooted in place, shaped by heritage, and guided by a modern, confident hand. While production remains small, Alexandra now crafts multiple cuvées, each reflecting a different facet of Bouzy’s character.

While one can certainly draw several parallels to André Clouet’s Bouzy champagnes, there’s no arguing that Alexandra Sainz’ 2013 “Millesime” contains an extra dimension of depth and texture given the (1) small blending role of Grand Cru Chardonnay and (2) and astounding 10 years of sur lie aging! The wine spills into a flared tulip stem with a resplendent straw-yellow core that moves out to coppery silver hues and quickly returns rich aromas of red and yellow apple, white peach, red plum, creamy hazelnut, brioche, honeysuckle, fruitcake, crushed chalk, and exotic spices.

It is difficult to define Alexandra by a single title. She is a winegrower, a winemaker, an entrepreneur, and a steward of history. Above all, she is a devoted advocate for Bouzy and its potential. Through her work, she honors the past while quietly shaping the future.

A Legacy Few Champagne Families Can Match

What truly sets Alexandra Sainz apart is the lineage behind her label. This is not simply a new grower brand, but the continuation of one of Bouzy’s quietly influential Champagne families. For generations, her family’s role was not visibility, but reliability. They were growers trusted by others to make great Champagne possible.

That legacy includes a name many Champagne lovers already know well. Alexandra’s brother, Jean-François Clouet, is the force behind some of the most beloved value-driven Grand Cru Champagnes in the region. The Clouet connection is not a footnote. It is central to understanding the technical confidence, cellar discipline, and stylistic clarity found in Alexandra Sainz Champagne.

The difference is intent. Where earlier generations focused on supplying fruit and supporting larger houses, Alexandra’s project represents a generational shift toward authorship. These wines are no longer anonymous contributors to a blend. They are personal, deliberate, and released only when ready.

This background explains the polish that feels unusual for such a young label. The cellar work reflects decades of accumulated knowledge rather than experimentation. Decisions are informed by family memory, not trend cycles. There is no learning curve on display.

Alexandra’s Champagne is best understood not as a debut, but as a quiet unveiling. A family that spent centuries behind the scenes has stepped forward, bringing with them the confidence of experience and the patience of time.