We’ve had the distinct pleasure of offering the incomparable, single vintage cuvée from R. Renaudin, “l’Espiegle,” multiple times over the past years. Of late we’ve been uncovering magnums of library wines, but it’s been too long since we got our hands on a “current” release in the standard 750ml format. So I’m super excited for the opportunity to get some of these scintillating bottles from the 2013 vintage into your hands. Yes, this bottle that’s a decade plus in age already is the current release, and it just so happens to come from a vintage that was overshadowed by 2012 (and 2008) but may be the sneaky winner of the 2010s. And the best news? It seems the price hasn’t budged since the grapes were harvested–it’s the only way to explain the ridiculously low, sub $70 price tag. Go ahead, you know what to do next!
Although it has passed through many hands and been rebuilt, Champagne Renaudin still upholds the traditions of an ancient estate (Château de Conardins) that was first established in 1724, making it one of the oldest enterprises in all of Champagne. Today, they own just 12 hectares that are spread throughout villages in the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay and the Côte des Blancs. Most of their crop is sold off to the blue-chip houses, but a small portion does remain in-house for production—just 50,000 bottles, and a fraction of that makes up their prestige cuvée. For comparison, Moët et Chandon produces tens of millions per year.
Renaudin’s micro-produced prestige bottling, “L’Espiegle,” is what’s on offer today. This 2013 comes from Chardonnay vines in the Premier Cru village of Pierry, which lies at the entrance of the Côte des Blancs near the Grand Crus Cramant and Chouilly. In the cellar, the gently pressed juice saw a slow, spontaneous fermentation in older French oak barrels followed by roughly 10 months of maturation. During this time, malolactic fermentation was avoided, but a steady lees-stirring regimen was employed to lend more textural richness. After being transferred into bottle, the wine then aged in the cellars of Renaudin for over 110 months before disgorgement and a judicious five-gram dosage. As mentioned, 2013 was originally thought to be a bit too “classic,” which means cold, to reach the heights of 2012 or 2008. But, it was actually about the same temperature as some of the top vintages from the 1960s, ‘70’s and ‘80s. Indeed it compares very favorably with the knockout 1996 vintage that we offered in magnum some years ago.
There are only a handful of respectable Champagne estates that age their prestige cuvées for this long, and far fewer taste this good and almost none charge so little. “L’Espiegle” pours a brilliant yellow-gold in the glass with streaks of silver and neon green. The tiny, compact beads of carbonation race upward in a rapid spiral motion and burst onto the surface alongside a fine mousse. If you give the wine about 15-20 seconds to settle in an all-purpose stem or flared tulip and gently swirl it a couple of times, you’ll be greeted with vibrant, creamy, and savory aromas of red and yellow apple, Bosc pear, crushed oyster shell, pineapple core, marzipan, lees, lemon curd, hazelnuts, honeysuckle, and toasted brioche. The palate, like all of their “L’Espiegle” creations, is rich and ever-lively with pulverized minerals and supple, nutty layers. Though it’s past a decade already, this is still a young wine, and it will continue its journey and improve for many years to come–if you can grab enough that you won’t be tempted to drink them all up before then!
