Tonight’s Friday Champagne bonus is an old friend to many of us, and an exciting new discovery to others. Domaine Michel Turgy is smack dab in the heart of one of Champagne’s most gilded villages–Les Mesnil-sur-Oger–and as such they benefit from the same terroir of pure, chalky limestone that contributes to some of the world’s most elite Blanc de Blancs bottlings. But, and this is why we love Turgy, the quality to price ratio here is among the most impressive in the whole region. I absolutely adore the supremely elegant, mineral drenched, exquisitely chiseled wines of Mesnil, but finding top examples for sub $100 these days is very difficult, and yet somehow Turgy does it for much less than that. Sparkling inflation is a real thing, but this soaring Grand Cru fully bucks the trend, so grab as much as you can before that changes!
When it comes to Blanc de Blancs Champagne, Turgy is an essential name to know, and today’s “Réserve Selection” is distinguished by a larger percentage of reserve wine for enhanced complexity and depth. I can’t stress enough what a pitch-perfect expression of Côte des Blancs Chardonnay this is: ethereal, chiseled, brightly aromatic, and profoundly mineral. And while we bought it for what’s inside the bottle, I can’t resist commenting on its beautiful, antique label, which makes me want it on my table even more. So, how do they manage all that and still keep the price so affordable? It's a bit of a mystery, but this family’s been growing Chardonnay in Les Mesnil-sur-Oger for more than 130 years, so they know what they’re doing.
The winemaker/proprietor at this six-hectare estate is Jean-Michel Turgy, who created this Réserve Selection for his West Coast importer, North Berkeley Imports; it includes a whopping 30% reserve wine in the cuvée, a significantly higher percentage than what is found in his regular NV Brut release. Although Turgy does have a rosé in his lineup (incorporating a tiny amount of Pinot Noir from Bouzy), the specialty here is crystalline, focused Blanc de Blancs from Chardonnay grown almost exclusively in Les Mesnil-sur-Oger. As Champagne geeks know, this village is effectively 100% devoted to Chardonnay, all of it Grand Cru, and by no means is Krug’s famed “Clos du Mesnil” the only distinguished vineyard site here: The village’s east-facing slopes, sheltered by thick woodland on the hills above, are perfect for ripening Chardonnay that maintains racy acidity and beautiful, high-toned aromatics.
Jean-Michel employs the lutte raisonnée, or “reasoned struggle,” approach to vine-growing—meaning that the estate employs all organic principles except in extreme circumstances. Fruit for this cuvée is harvested from an assortment of small plots with vines averaging 30 years of age, fermented on native yeasts in stainless steel, then aged at least two years sur lie in bottle. It receives a very modest dosage (sugar addition) of 5 grams/liter.
The refinement and star-bright personality of this Brut Blanc de Blancs is evident from the first sip. In the glass, it’s a brilliant straw-gold with flecks of silver, with aromas of fresh-cut green apple, quince, lemon curd, hay, honeysuckle, sea salt, and fresh brioche dough. There’s great depth to the minerality and terrific focus and lift on the palate—it’s airy and refined, but substantial, in the manner of the best Blanc de Blancs. The Chardonnay character rings clearly throughout, and while it is plenty structure for main-course seafood dishes I think of this wine as an ultra-sophisticated apéritif: Serve it at 45-50 degrees in elegant all-purpose white stems with some fresh, lemony crab toasts for a kick-off to a great meal. To me, this is a category-defining Blanc de Blancs that must not be missed!
