This is almost certainly your last chance to try this revelatory, rarefied Champagne. Don’t miss it!

The 2002 vintage is universally touted as one of the greatest Champagne vintages of the 21st century, producing exceedingly age-worthy wines with both power and finesse.

Vincent Couche’s 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. The wonderfully ripe grapes grown here add immense texture and vibrancy in the final wine.

Couche has led the charge in both the organic and grower Champagne movements. He was the first producer in Champagne to be certified Biodynamic in both the vineyard and cellar. His “Sensation” bottling is equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that has been naturally farmed, vinified in old French barrels, and left to mature on the lees for over two decades. 

This is non-intervention in it's truest sense. Couche picks late so that his grapes are properly ripe, no chaptalization is required and the dosage is kept to an absolute minimum. He ferments his wines with natural yeasts in large neutral barrels and then allows the malolactic fermentation to occur naturally. No pumps are to be found in the winery—everything is by gravity.

Why You'll Love It:

• One of the great Champagnes from One of the Greatest vintages of the 21st century. Astoundingly energetic. It’s a dynamic sensory experience that seems to shape shift every 15 minutes
  
  
• The palate is brimming with high tones of honeysuckle, white peach, green apple, pineapple core, Rainier cherry, and acacia alongside crackling notes of toasted nuts and candied lemon/lime peel.
  
  
• Savory earth and mineral: wild herbs, lees, smoke, crushed white stones, button mushroom, fino sherry, cheese rind, nougat.
  
  
• Buoyant layers of acidity highlight the wine’s beautiful citrus- and orchard-fruit flavors. It’s a mind-blowing wine to be enjoyed now and over the next 5-8 years.

How To Serve It:

• Serving in an all-purpose stem will preserve the delicate perlage a bit longer, but your best Burgundy bowl will really accentuate the monumental complexity and vinous depth that Couche has achieved.
  
  
• Served just cool, around 50-55 degrees, ideally out of the cellar or wine fridge instead of a regular refrigerator.
  
  
• Perfect with a simple plate of aged cheeses, or make it a truly romantic meal with roast chicken and truffles. Bon appétit!