Drinking great Champagne does not have to be expensive, but it does take some searching to find serious examples under $40. You should all be aware by now of our unquenchable affinity for quality Grower Champagne. Our never-ending search for these uncovered treasures has been amply rewarded with today’s wine. Champagne Guy Brunot’s Grand Reserve Brut hails from Premier Cru vineyards in the Vallée de la Marne village of Dizy, about four kilometers west of Épernay.
This bespoke Champagne is crafted in chalk cellars below a modest, streetside home that turns out just over 2,000 cases a year. With only about four hectares in production, they are barely large enough to qualify as a “Récoltant Manipulant” (grower-producer). However, what they lack in size, they make up for in pure, handcrafted quality. With beautifully broad texture, low dosage, and a creaminess that comes from four years on the lees, this stunning example is reminiscent of bottles many times its price and represents one of our best values.
The Grand Reserve Brut exhibits a beautiful pale golden yellow core with light golden reflections on the rim. Classic, mature aromas of baked apples, dried lemon, mushroom brioche and wilted acacia blooms are laced with fine lees and wet chalk. The palate is creamy and expansive with well-integrated, soft acidity. Flavors of dried apple, preserved lemon, pear, honeysuckle, lemon blossom, rising bread dough and focused, chalk minerality unfold layer after layer to deliver a long, satisfying finish. This wine is absolutely delicious now. To enjoy, pull from the refrigerator and open twenty minutes prior; this allows the wine to rise a few degrees and shed a touch of carbon dioxide. Serve in all-purpose white wine stems at roughly 50 degrees. As the wine warms, the texture will become richer and richer, and the aromas will come alive. This expansive, perfectly yeasty champagne calls for the main course. If you read our offers often, you know that we love to pair certain champagnes with fried chicken. This champagne is perfect to serve with a table full! This New York Times article shows the southern dish at its best; it is also a family friend’s recipe, which has been handed down for generations. There are no short cuts, but the result will prove well worth the effort. Enjoy!