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P. Lancelot-Royer, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru Brut

Champagne, France NV (750mL)
$49.00
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P. Lancelot-Royer, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru Brut

Since we’re conditioned to think of Champagne as a luxury good, and a “special occasion” wine above all else, what I’m about to say may seem odd: Champagne is arguably the best-value wine region on earth right now (if you know where to look).
The level of craftsmanship and history you can get in the $40-$50 range continues to astound me—every time I turn around, there’s another récoltant-manipulant (grower-producer) turning up in an importer’s portfolio, with a generations-old story to tell and a base level of quality that transcends expectations. I’m not looking to christen my yacht with Champagne; I want to drink it, frequently, and there’s so much great, well-priced wine out there that we’re compelled to keep offering it. I first became acquainted with the wines of Lancelot-Royer a few years ago, and if there were ever a producer who embodied “artisanal” production, it’s proprietor Michel Chauvet. With Michel at the helm, Lancelot-Royer has dedicated itself to the manual labor of wine: from harvest to riddling to disgorgement to bottling, Chauvet literally has his hands on everything. This wine is his flagship “Cuvée des Chevaliers,” a blanc de blancs with a broader, denser quality than most all-Chardonnay Champagnes. Sourced from Grand Cru vineyards in the Côtes des Blancs village of Cramant, this bottle challenges one’s perceptions as to what a blanc de blancs wine is capable of; if you’re thinking “light and lemony,” think again—this is a profoundly powerful expression of Chardonnay, and soil, that happens to be sparkling. If you love great Champagne, this is one to stock up on, especially at this price!
Not only is this wine 100% Chardonnay but its home village, Cramant, is nearly 100% planted to the variety. This is the heart of the Côte des Blancs sub-zone of Champagne, and one of its Grand Cru-designated vineyard areas. Lancelot-Royer farms 12 hectares of vineyards here, all of it Chardonnay and 100% Grand Cru. The property, one of Cramant’s smallest, was founded in 1960 by Pierre Lancelot, who turned over management to his daughter, Sylvie, and her husband Michel Chauvet, in 1996. Working in their rustic, hand-excavated caves, their only allowance to modernity are his stainless steel fermentation vessels, which line the damp, chisel-marked walls. The hand-harvested fruit is pressed by hand in an upright, wooden press, then fermented using only indigenous yeasts.

For a non-vintage brut bottling at this price point, the wine’s vital stats are incredibly impressive: it was aged five years on its lees in bottle; hand-riddled; and blended with 30% ‘reserve’ wines from previous vintages. That certainly explains its exceptional depth and persistence on the palate; it makes the kind of impact you expect from Burgundy Chardonnay from a top village like Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet. The dosage (the corrective dose of sugar added at final bottling) is kept very low, giving the wine a bone-dry finish.

In the glass, “Cuvée des Chevaliers” is a deep yellow-gold extending to the rim, with heady aromas of dried pineapple, yellow apple, white peach, meyer lemon meringue, cream, brioche dough, dried white flowers, and a pile of crushed stones. It has the creaminess you’d expect from such long lees aging, but also a very full-fruited personality and a strong, balancing mineral component. It’s one of the more mouth-filling blanc de blancs Champagnes I’ve had in some time, with a beautifully refreshing blast of ripe green apple fruit on the palate. It has plenty of backbone and heft for extended aging, but at this price I’ll be popping a few soon; serve this in large Burgundy stems at 50-55 degrees and pair it with a rich broiled oyster preparation as in the attached recipe. It will be so, so good. I can’t wait to try it myself. Cheers!
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Country
France
Region
Champagne
Sub-Region
FranceCrámant, Côte des Blancs
Soil
Limestone Chalk
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Chardonnay 100%
Alcohol
12.5
OAK
Large Neutral French
TEMP.
55-60
Glassware
Open-Mouthed Flute or White Wine
Drinking
Now-2030
Pairing
Broiled Oysters w/ Garlic Breadcrumbs

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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