The battle of haste was on full display when we offered Vincent Couche’s painfully limited, just-released 1999 Vintage Champagne last year: hundreds, if not thousands, of people jockeyed for a bottle, but only 68 emerged victorious. At the time, we thought the final bottle that had left our warehouse was the last on earth—we’ve never been more thrilled to be wrong! Turns out, Couche released a second, much smaller batch that arrived last month, and once again, we have first dibs!
In case you need reminding, today’s 1999 “Sensation” is not a re-release; it is the debut. In other words, Vincent, a man of calculated genius, waited nearly two decades before disgorging and releasing the wine you see in front of you. It is one of the most texturally profound, 20+-year-old vintage bottlings I’ve had the honor of tasting—the level of intelligence, vibrancy, and mineral precision each sip brings is staggering. Translation: It will not be overshadowed by any other bottle on the table. Unless you want to be slapped with a wine misdemeanor, anyone who considers themselves an appreciator of fine Champagne cannot miss this extraordinary experience. If you didn’t land a bottle the first time around due to an oversight or being slow on the draw, don’t let this rare second opportunity pass you by!
It was Vincent Couche’s mother who inspired his passion for vineyard work, and especially, for maintaining a natural, chemical-free ecosystem. As such, he has spent every waking hour over the past two decades ensuring his wines are free of additives. Because he refuses unnatural methods at every step of the process—from eschewing “-cides” to banning chaptalization or sulfur during fermentation to only using gravity to move the wine—Vincent Couche is leading the charge in both the organic and grower Champagne movements. Their importer even told us he is the first producer in Champagne to be Certified Biodynamic in both the vineyard and cellar.
Couche only produces “Sensation” in vintages he deems worthy and 1999 was one of those standout seasons. His fruit comes from two choice villages: Buxeuil (Pinot Noir) and Montgueux (Chardonnay). Vines in Montgueux, made famous by Champagne icon Jacques Lassaigne, are perched on an expansive chalky rise that looks down at the farmland below. It’s predominantly planted to Chardonnay, and the wonderfully ripe grapes grown here add immense texture and vibrancy in the final wine. Back at Vincent’s cellar in Buxeuil, a fermentation (including malolactic) born of ambient yeasts was carried out in French oak barrels, without any sulfur, and the final blend was bottled at the beginning of 2000. Today’s batch was then cellared for 19 years before Vincent finally decided it was “the right time.” Upon disgorgement, it was topped off with a light Extra-Brut dosage (less than six grams of sugar) and held back in his cellar for an additional year.
This bottle will redefine your perception about mature Champagne: It’s not always about caramel, hazelnut, and bruised fruit. The appeal of a late-disgorgement wine is that the bulk of aging comes before, not after, the disgorgement when the wine is still in contact with the lees. Over years and decades, the lees act as a preservative while adding immense layers of complexity and texture. So when disgorgement day finally arrived—early 2019 in today’s case—Sensation was more fresh, vibrant, and precise than a competitor’s bottle of ’99 that was disgorged, say, in the early 2000s. Make sense?
In the glass, the wine stuns with a youthful bright yellow color and energetic aromas that defy the vintage listed on the bottle. Fresh cream, Meyer lemon, Rainier cherry, and hints of tropical fruit dazzle alongside finely crushed chalk, oyster shell, salt-preserved citrus, dried savory herbs, and a touch of toasted brioche. The wine is creamy, multi-layered, and resoundingly lifted from start to finish, all while stubbornly refusing to show one ounce of fatigue. It’s a masterpiece that will go head-to-head with Champagne’s greatest names, period. Serve in all-purpose stems around 55 degrees, or warmer, and enjoy it over an entire evening so you can experience another dimension as the temperature rises and the bubbles dissipate. Be sure to open one during the holidays—it is guaranteed to stun a room full of people. Cheers!
