2020 Champagne Holiday Pack
Champagne, France (750mL)
Regular price$199.00
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2020 Champagne Holiday Pack
Although unnoticeable to the naked eye, I want to be very clear that the four Champagnes in front of you are not random selections, but rather a deeply-thought-out, specially curated quartet of world-class sparklers. I lost count of how many samples we burned through over the past month, but I can say with absolute confidence that we’ve emerged with four unique, fascinating, and extraordinarily delicious styles of Champagne to round out this wild year.
These, of course, can be enjoyed however you see fit, but I’ve listed each wine in order of body/texture (light to rich) below. We first tracked down a vibrant and highly expressive Brut Nature from Laherte Frères, a biodynamic-minded Champagne Grower that has eluded me successfully for years, until now. Second, we secured a brand-new, flavor-packed disgorgement of Grand Cru Brut Rosé from André Clouet, our all-time favorite value producer! Following, we looked to Paul Déthune in Grand Cru Ambonnay for a stunning Grand Cru bottling that has become increasingly idolized for its immense breadth and power. And finally, we scored François Lecompte’s Premier Cru 2012, a legendary vintage that delivered a Champagne loaded to the brim with profoundly rich, nutty, and toasty textures. To put it succinctly, we have every angle/style/tastebud covered, for under $200. If this doesn’t send you and yours into a rapturous state of mind, nothing will!
NOTE: Free Ground shipping on your first pack. Please refer to our Holiday Shipping Calendar for order cutoff dates. All UPS Ground orders are guaranteed to arrive at your door before Christmas if ordered by Dec. 14. Please note, this product is NOT eligible for Build a Case.
Laherte Frères Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature
Having grown vines in Chavot-Courcourt since 1889, the Laherte family has completely mastered the nuances of their village’s many soil types—no less than 27!—so their expressive Brut Nature is all about showcasing the purities and intricacies of that special terroir. Although it is indeed a SommSelect “first,” it is in no way a new wine to me: This is one of the few labels I seek out and subsequently geek out over when perusing bottle and by-the-glass lists. Unfortunately, they’re not easy to come across in significant quantities, so most of my experience has been limited to books instead of the wine itself—a misfortune I am correcting with today’s thrilling Champagne. This is naturally farmed, barrel-fermented Chardonnay bottled without an ounce of sugar, and it tastes damn-near heavenly. If you’re thinking this zero-dosage Blanc de Blancs will rattle your teeth and send an electric jolt down your spine, think again. This is pulsing with energy, yes, but its supple entry and deliciously soft layers make it fascinatingly pleasurable from start to finish. It’s undoubtedly the most ethereal and light-footed Champagne in the lineup.
André Clouet, “No. 3” Grand Cru Rosé
Be it your first time or tenth, you can be entirely certain that every release of today’s Champagne will be a sublime, etched-from-chalk Grand Cru of seriously mouthwatering proportions. It’s generous, full-flavored, and ridiculously refreshing. Accordingly, André Clouet has become kind of a favorite child to us—for six years running, it has been our unrivaled value-for-dollar Champagne benchmark. Predominantly one vintage with a blend of older reserve wines, this Grand Cru Rosé aged for over three years in bottle and was topped off with a light dosage that included a small percentage of still Bouzy Pinot Noir to achieve its trademark salmon color. This is the freshest disgorgement, having just arrived stateside last month. In the past, we offered them whenever we pleased but times have changed: the world has caught wind of these spectacular gems and put a severe bottleneck on our allocations. If there are still subscribers out there who have neglected this jaw-dropping bottle of rosé, allow this to be your moment of clarity.
Paul Déthune, Grand Cru Ambonnay
Seeing as we’ve broadcasted our extreme obsession with Paul Déthune in the form of innumerable offers and a constantly swelling private collection, there’s no denying we have an addiction to their small-batch lineup. And yet, despite owning just seven hectares and warding off fierce global demand, Déthune has no desire to expand. Truly, if they were bottled by a big-ticket Champagne House equipped with millions of marketing dollars, they would fetch twice the price. Put your nose in the glass and you’ll understand why: this has the full-bodied allure and unrivaled Grand Cru power typically reserved for “window-shopping” labels. By extracting extraordinarily ripe Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from their mature Grand Cru Ambonnay vines and adding a monstrous portion of reserve wines from a decades-old perpetual blend, this entry-level Champagne blasts away the competition.
François Lecompte, 1er Cru Millésime 2012
There’s a reason we’ve been devout followers of Lecompte over the years: their creamy and deliciously textured Premier Cru Champagnes come in far under the market rate. Today, we’ve wrangled a tiny allocation of their 2012 release, a vintage that has earned deserved comparisons to the legendary years of 1996, 1990, and even 1947. In our humble opinion, these gems consistently compete for the market’s top vintage-dated value because they are (1) a masterful blend of all three noble grapes, (2) hand-crafted with 100% Premier Cru fruit, and (3) aged for an exceptionally long time prior to release. How long? Seven years pass before their vintage bottlings leave their cellar! This is the fullest, richest wine of the bunch, one that explodes with immensely creamy and nutty textures. In terms of Laherte Frère, it’s on the opposite end of the spectrum—unapologetically, I might add. This is for the gourmands and hedonists!
