We swear, we didn’t plan to offer a wine whose name translates to “Wine of Passions” on Valentine’s Day. But as soon as we tasted Paul Baldi and Benjamin Pain’s Champagne Extra Brut “Vin de Passionnés,” we knew we had to offer it as soon as possible. The stars aligned, so we’re leaning into it with a bottle that’ll make any bubbly lover’s heart race. “Vin de Passionnés” is small-scale production to the extreme, with fewer than 50 cases produced each year. It comes from 60-year-old vines in a single, extremely unique Grand Cru village, is blended from reserves going back two decades, and sees over five years en tirage. On top of it all, while you might expect to pay $150+ for Champagne with such pedigree, “Vin de Passionnés” somehow comes in at less than a hundred bucks. It’s both dead serious and unabashedly joyful, singing of fruity lift, mineral rigor, and textural density all at once. In short, it’s everything we look for in artisanal Champagne: Made by the passionate, for the passionate. Grab a bottle, take a sip, and fall in love!
Champagne villages don’t come much more special than Verzenay, where “Vin de Passionnés” hails from. Located in the heart of the Montagne de Reims, it’s a Grand Cru village that grows primarily Pinot Noir over clay and limestone soils. What really separates Verzenay from the rest of the Montagne is the fact that most of its vineyards are north-facing. Pinot grown here takes on a darker and more savory aromatic profile as a result. And now, when basically all of Champagne struggles with the challenges of ever-warmer vintages, Verzenay is in prime position. The vineyards’ northern exposition means that they see a fraction of the sunlight the previously-prized south-facing vineyards do. Where a lot of Pinot grown in Champagne these days tends toward the overly opulent and almost sweet, Verzenay continues to produce classically chiseled expressions.
Baldi-Pain is a collaboration between two Champagne natives, now separated by an ocean and a continent. Paul Baldi left the land of sparkling wine years ago to become a sommelier in San Francisco. But he remained in touch with Benjamin Pain, viticulturalist and winemaker, and after countless nights spent drinking Champagne, they knew they had to make some together. The single cuvée they make is the kind of wine only a sommelier who’s spent decades drinking the stuff would dream up. It’s 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, from organically farmed vineyards. The fruit is hand-harvested and fermented entirely in barrel. Those barrels are made from oaks that grow in the village next to the vineyards. The current vintage wine is blended with a reserve going back to 2005, then ages on its lees for five years. And it sees just the tiniest drop of dosage to round out the texture. “Vin de Passionnés” is geeky and heady, but also fun and refreshing in equal measure.
Baldi-Pain’s “Vin de Passionnés” is definitely a Champagne to serve in s white wine glass, not a flute, so as to fully appreciate the aromatic spectrum on display. It opens with classic red-fruited cut, intimations of apple flesh, white raspberry, cherry pit, and plum skin. Beneath the fruit are unmistakable nutty and rocky savor, with pulverized chalk, seaspray, hazelnuts, toasty brioche, and wool tones. The palate is resolutely dry, but not austere, led by its acidity and mineral crunch before rounding out into golden-tinged richness and a very long and toasty finish. The complexity on display here is pretty mindbending, especially given the price; “Vin de Passionnés” would certainly suffice as an aperitif, but this is fulsome juice that’s happiest alongside a lovingly prepared meal. Happy Valentine’s Day to Champagne lovers everywhere!
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lobster-risotto
