Champagne will always have its untouchables, like the Bollingers, Krugs, and Salons. But, just like Bordeaux, the region is so much more than the big-name brands and the prestige
cuvées. Today’s offer is exactly the type of Champagne I would pour by the glass in a restaurant, or, for that matter, my home: It’s a Champagne for those of us who love Champagne the wine more than Champagne the image, as it is affordable enough to enjoy regularly and good enough to make you look brilliant for finding it.
Loaded with all the qualities we love in a crowd-pleasing, Chardonnay-forward Champagne—the lemon-lime cream, the toasty lees, the feathery sourdough finish—Marlène Delong’s “Cuvée Privilège” is a relative newcomer to the US market, and what a smashing debut it is. The value-for-dollar is incredible, lending new meaning to the term “everyday” Champagne; sourced from vineyards in the Champagne’s lesser-traveled Côte de Sézanne, Cuvée Privilège may carry an ‘entry-level’ price tag, but it’s a long way from simple. This is a “house” Champagne any house would be proud to carry.
The crème de la crème of Champagne vineyards fall in three of the five main sub-regions: the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne, and the Côte des Blancs. If you’re a tourist in Champagne, on a day trip from Paris, you’re most likely staying close to the city of Reims or Épernay (the eastern mark of the Marne Valley and the gateway to the Côtes des Blancs). Out of the remaining main sub-regions (the Aube and the Côte de Sézanne), the Aube is more popular and has experienced its renaissance in the early part of the century, propelled by independent producers with an idiosyncratic Burgundian style of winemaking (like Cédric Bouchard, Davy Dosnon, and Dominique Moreau). Since the rise of the Aube, the little Côte de Sézanne felt all alone, swept under the dusty clays, until sommeliers began following the wines of Olivier Collin (of Ulysse Collin). Not technically located within the Côte de Sézanne (but close by), Collin’s wines brought attention from the crème-filled middle to the golden edges.
Delong Marlène is headquartered in Allemant, at the tip of the Sézannais, which sits well south of the Marne Valley and southwest of the Côtes des Blancs. It is essentially a continuation of the Côtes des Blancs, divided by the marshes of Saint Gond, but a warmer climate where soils contain less chalk, passing onto Chardonnay a rounder mouthfeel and more intense aromatics. These are not your eye-twitching, nervy, “give it 15 years,” styles of Champagne, and that’s fine. We need wines like “Cuvée Privilège” to impress our house guests before a bottle of white, or to simply satisfy us when we’re tired of paying way too much for something that gives us way too little.
The winemaker is Marlène Delong, and the estate was started by her father in 1966 when he purchased barren parcels in three villages of the Côte de Sezanne. They were growers firstly, farming and selling most of their grapes to the local cooperatives, a common, conventional way-of-life until Marlène came along. Her dad made a small amount of wine, but the focus was growing in quantity not quality. The estate became hers in 2000, and the crusade against the bare soil began, slowly converting the vineyards into self-reliable eco-systems, independent of pesticides and herbicides. With the arrival of her husband in 2008, Marlène’s energy turned towards the cellar as he managed the vineyards, the final step in transforming the long-lived potential of the Sézannais into a pleasurable Champagne reality.
A blend of 67% Chardonnay, balanced by the red fruits of Pinot Noir and fuzzy florals of Pinot Meunier, the grapes come from three different villages of the Côte de Sézanne (Allemant, Broyes, and Sézanne), caked with chalk and clay soils. The base of this cuvée is a dry and sunny 2015 vintage, blended with 40% “reserve” wine from the 2013 and 2014 vintages. The combination of a uniformly ripe 2015 vintage, a greater percentage of reserve wine, and two years of aging on the lees, gives this Champagne plenty of flavor to flood your palate. The wine completes malolactic fermentation, which softens the acidity and broadens the texture. The dosage (six grams/liter) leaves just enough sugar to influence texture, but not sweetness. Avoid the skinny flute glasses and opt for something with a wider middle (like the Riedel Champagne Ouverture series), or use an all-purpose white wine glass. A medium straw core flickers with silver into a brilliant platinum rim. On the nose, the wine teams with lemon, green and yellow apple, white flowers, and warm crumbly biscuits.
On the palate, the aromas become creamy with a whisper of nutty, then the acidity kicks in like a jolt of electricity, making for a dry and thirsty finish. For me, buoyant non-vintage styles of Champagne are loyal companions to finger foods, preferably tan, salted, and crispy ones. Making the perfect French fry can be a daunting task for a home cook, but it is worth the journey. This recipe is not French-inspired, but Belgian, emphasizing the crucial, double-fry technique. This might not be an entrée, but it’s a good introduction to a memorable meal and the promising wines of Delong-Marlène. Cheers!
