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Champagne AR Lenoble, Grand Cru “Gentilhomme”

Champagne, France 2013 (750mL)
Regular price$95.00
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Champagne AR Lenoble, Grand Cru “Gentilhomme”

What defines rare? Grand Cru Champagne is a good starting point. Small production? Yes, that too. But what about a deeply special cuvée that’s only been produced five times in 18 years? That’s Lenoble’s staggeringly impressive “Gentilhomme,” a powerful, vintage-dated, Blanc de Blancs masterpiece formed from Lenoble’s very best grapes in the very best years. We’re talking the crème de la crème of Grand Cru Chouilly in 1996, 2002, 2006, 2009, and tonight’s 2013. Further adding to its rarity, other than right here, “Gentilhomme” is only retailing in France and Italy—that’s it! So, while nobody is stopping you from spending hundreds on top-shelf luxury labels like Salon, Krug, and Selosse, why would you as long as (1) AR Lenoble continues to be one of the most buzzed-about, avant-garde houses in Champagne and (2) tonight’s painstakingly crafted and infuriatingly limited cuvée is available for $95?!


The unrivaled profundity of Grand Cru Chouilly is at full capacity in this 2013 “Gentilhomme,” and after aging well over six years in Lenoble’s carved-from-chalk cellars, it erupts with an emotion-charged core of chiseled minerality and finely textured fruit. From all angles, this perfect bottle of world-class Blanc de Blancs Vintage Champagne conclusively outshines the competition at this price. Our double-digit parcel is coming directly from their cellar, so once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. Up to six bottles per person, two gets you complimentary Ground Shipping.


[NOTE: If this is your first time seeing our Friday night series, welcome! My name is Mark Osburn, writer and sommelier at SommSelect, and you’re likely familiar with the many Champagnes I’ve waxed rhapsodic about over the years. My goal is simple: to offer you rare Champagne exclusives and/or highly allocated sparkling gems that have to be pried out of an iron grip. These special offers don’t happen every week, but they will always be on a Friday night—stay vigilant!]   

AR Lenoble is a rare breed in Champagne—both a highly respected house and independently owned since day one. This is a family resolute in keeping operations close-knit and crafting the greatest, purest expressions from an impressive collection of elite vineyards. While technically a négociant house, AR Lenoble is hardly just some “merchant.” In 1915, Armand-Raphaël Graser made the decision to move his family from Alsace in order to protect them from the nasty vibrations of the First World War. It took five years to craft his first Champagne and 20 more to actually establish the house, but with perseverance and a little help along the way (from Léon de Tassigny, who went on to take the helm at famed Champagne Jacquesson), AR Lenoble began making its way onto the world scene. 



Lenoble is now run by his great-grandchildren, the brother-sister team of Anne and Antoine Malassagne, who have brought on new practices while preserving the traditions that preceded them. The Malassagnes have made sustainable viticulture a priority, eschewing chemical fertilizers, and eliminating other non-organic vineyard treatments. Additionally, reserve wines are fermented in a mixture of unique vessels and dosage levels are kept low to let the fruit and terroir character shine. They are the epitome of progressive thinking.



As such, their Chouilly bottlings are spectacles to behold with today’s limited offer being one of the true standouts of the lineup. This isn’t just pristine Grand Cru Chardonnay from their sustainably farmed parcels—it’s the very best hand-selected clusters from a blockbuster vintage. After the 2013 harvest, one they deemed extraorindry, they meticulously sorted the top percentage of their Chouilly crop and vinified it separately in a combination of stainless steel and large, neutral barrels. Following, the wine was bottled in the first quarter of 2014 and sent into their deep chalk caves until our parcel was disgorged-to-order in the summer of 2020. It was given a judicious two-gram dosage.



When it comes to powerful, low-dosage, long-aged Chouilly from the dexterous hands of AR Lenoble, I always think the best course of action is to treat it like Grand Cru Burgundy: Pour it around 50-55 degrees, serve it in large Burgundy stems, and savor it slowly over several hours. What’s immediately apparent is that it isn’t fiercely carbonated, razor-sharp, or aggressive. This is supremely sublime Champagne with long-reaching breadth and delicacy that melts in your mouth with generous notes of apricot, ripe yellow apples, pineapple core, brioche, toasted hazelnut, honeysuckle, acacia, preserved lemon, lees, crushed chalk, seaspray, and vanilla bean. The rich yet precise palate is liquid royalty that slowly unfurls with a velvety soft core of yellow orchard fruit, creamy citrus, and a lasting presence of pulverized minerality. If you love fine white Burgundy and the allure of luxury Champagne, I have to imagine this will be one of the most memorable bottles of the year. Enjoy now and over the next decade. Cheers!
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France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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