New Holiday Champagne Offerings 12-17-23

Our favorite time of year has arrived. The holiday season is in full swing which means the excuse required to pop open a bottle of bubbly has completey exited the building. From now until midnight on New Year’s Day we’re going to be celebrating with Champagnes from our favorite producers and offering them to you at our best pricing. Each week this month, starting today, you can expect to see a lists of personally curated Champagnes that the Vinopolis staff think deserve your attention and thirst.

Below are the second set of curated recommendations from the Vinopolis inventory; a three-producer array that spans a wide variety of  styles and spectrums. Whether it’s structured pinot noir based cuvees or elegant rosé bottlings you’re looking for, you can find them in these offerings. And of course, the rule continues that where there is one bottle of Champagne at a party, there should have been two. Don’t be shy in your orders as we have the ability to bring in additional stock as requested across most of these favorites.

FREDERIC SAVART
With vineyards expertly positioned in the village of Ecueil, Fred’s wines are fiercely individualistic and will leave a lasting impression on your senses. There’s a wonderful focus and energy to these champagnes the goes beyond the standard expected tones of toasted brioche and racy fruits. I think what comes across very clearly is that Fred makes champagne that can dazzle on the palate with the complexity of a fine still pinot noir or chardonnay, but still achieve the beloved character of sparkling, lees-aged bubbles. 

Frederic Savart L’Ouverture Blanc de Noirs Premier Cru Brut, Champagne 750ml $64.50 special, 23 bottles available
Importer notes “L’Ouverture is Fred Savart’s entry level Champagne but it is far from one-dimensional. It is 100% Pinot Noir all from the village of Ecueil, half of which was fermented in mostly neutral barrel with the other half is fermented in stainless steel. The wine only sees partial malolactic fermentation. Fred doesn’t guide the malolactic fermentation, instead it is the inclusion of reserve wine that goes through malolactic fermentation because it has gone more temperature swings. Disgorged July 2023. Base vintage 80% 2021 plus 10% 2019 & 2020.”

Frederic Savart Bulle de Rose Premier Cru Brut Rose, Champagne 750ml $84.50 special, 18 bottles available
Importer notes “Fred’s rosé is a rosé d’assemblage composed of 70% Pinot Noir, 22% Chardonnay, and 8% still red wine. It comes entirely from the village of Ecueil. It is fermented mostly in stainless steel, with around 20% of the blend made in neutral barrels. The dosage is 6g/L. Disgorged July 2023. Base vintage 80% 2020, 20% 2021.”

Frederic Savart Les Noues Ecueil Premier Cru Extra Brut, Champagne 750ml $99 special, 13 bottles available
VinopolNote “A very exclusive Chardonnay blend from Ecueil and Trepail, two Premier Cru vineyards. This wine has the structure and integrity of a fine Burgundy. Reductive, focused, weighted… this is everything you could want from grower champagne.”


MARC HEBRART
Jean-Paul Hebrart has over 85 different plots across the Vallee de la Marne to work with during harvest and vinification. This affords him an almost unmatched ability to blend sites and grapes in the effort of achieving harmony in the final blend. These wines are the perfect balance of both thought-provoking and simply delicious to consume. We love the diversity of what this estate is able to achieve with it’s varied sites and dosage expressions.

Hebrart Premier Cru Mes Favorites Vieilles Vignes, Champagne NV 750ml $69 special, 34 bottles available
PRE-ARRIVAL ETA MID-DECEMBER
Vinous 92 points “[Review for prior disgorgement.] The NV Brut Mes Favorites Villes Vignes is a powerful, structured Champagne. There’s plenty of old-vine intensity and bright acid driving a core of Pinot-based fruit. I would prefer to cellar this for at least another year or two, as it is clearly still coming together. It’s a wine for readers who enjoy rich, vinous Champagnes at the dinner table.”

Hebrart Premier Cru Brut Rose, Champagne NV 750ml $59 special, 35 bottles available
PRE-ARRIVAL ETA MID-DECEMBER
Wine Spectator 92 points “[Reviewed in 2023] Well-knit and minerally, with a crisp texture and flavors of ripe raspberry, poached apricot, tangerine peel and biscuit. Chalky finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.”

Hebrart Selection Premier Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ml $54.50 special, 36 bottles available
PRE-ARRIVAL ETA MID-DECEMBER
Wine Spectator 92 points “[Review for previous disgorgement.] A sleek Champagne, mouthwatering and refined in texture, offering a creamy, well-meshed blend of crème de cassis, toast point, crystallized honey and lemon curd.”
Vinous 91 points “[Review for previous disgorgement.] The NV Brut Sélection is based on 2018, with reserve wines from 2016 and 2015. Richness and vibrancy come together in a mid-weight Champagne that captures the essence of Hébrart’s style. Lemon confit, apple tart, spice, chamomile and dried flowers build into the resonant finish.”
Importer note “Anticipated assemblage: 60% 2019, 30% 2018, 10% 2017. Village/vyd: Old vines, 40+-years-old and sélection massale; Pinot Noir from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ 1er Cru, Avenay Val d’Or 1er Cru; Chardonnay from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ 1er Cru, Bisseuil 1er Cru.”


DE VENOGE
The infamous tear drop, perfume-like bottle shape that lights up any table it presides on. A name which rarely needs any introduction amongst oenophiles and yet we’re going to do so now. De Venoge Champagne. Found in 1825 in Mareuil-sur-Ay, these wines have dazzled consumers around the world ever since. On offer we have multiple back-vintage aged examples of their brut and extra-brut rose from excellent years that have developed complexity you won’t find remotely replicated in a NV bottling. If you’re looking for a stunner champagne that will firmly cement memories amongst your family and friends this year, look no further.

De Venoge Louis XV de Venoge Brut Champagne 2006 750ml $189 special, 18 bottles available
Wine Advocate 96 points “The assemblage of the 2006 Louis XV Brut Millésimé is about the same as the 1995 and 1996—composed of 50/50 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, all from grand cru villages. The only difference is that the Chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (10% of the assemblage) spent 12 months in oak barrels. Disgorged in January 2017 (dosage: six grams per liter), the 2006 has a golden color and opens with a deep, ripe, elegant and vinous bouquet with toasty and chalky lemon and fresh white fruit flavors. On the palate, this is an intense, round, fresh and complex Louis XV with great purity and finesse. The wine opens on the palate like a soufflé, coating the whole palate without any pressure or weight—gorgeous! This is a delicate and fresh yet well-structured and persistent Louis XV whose intense and long but weightless finish reveals lovely, almost juicy fruit concentration with perfectly integrated freshness and lasting minerality that seems to give additional structure. The 2006 shows a lot of Chardonnay features right now and drinks perfectly today; however, it can be kept under perfect conditions for decades. Just keep it in the box, because the bottle is white and nothing makes a Champagne age faster than exposure to daylight. (Tasted in November 2017 from Lot LL15067017BT.)-SR”

De Venoge Louis XV de Venoge Brut Champagne 2008 750ml $249 special, 33 bottles available
James Suckling 95 points “This is really punchy and broad-shouldered with muscular structure and citrusy undertones. Full body. Lightly tannic and a fresh and vivid finish. This is the first vintage without malolactic fermentation ever. One for the cellar. Better in 2022.”
Wine Advocate 93+ points “The straw-yellow/white-golden colored 2008 Louis XV Brut Millésimé blends 50% Chardonnay (20 % from Avize, 15% from Oger and 15% from Mesnil) with 50% Pinot Noir (41.5% from Verzenay and 8.5% from Bouzy). Disgorged in January 2018 with a dosage of six grams per liter, the 2008 displays a clear, pure, fresh, chalky-tinged and vinous nose with lemon, white fruits, brioche, hazelnuts, white blossoms and some caramel notes. Pure, lean, fresh and elegant on the palate, with a lingering hazelnut flavor, this is a straight yet complex cuvée with grip and a long, well-structured and textured finish. This 2008 is still terribly fresh and should benefit from further bottle aging. For the moment, I am missing the mouth-filling generosity of the 2006 and 1995. Mind that this is the first vintage of de Venoge’s prestigious Louis XV where the base wines didn’t undergo malolactic fermentation! Total production: 10,326 bottles. Tasted October 2018.”

De Venoge Louis XV de Venoge Extra Brut Rose Champagne 2002 750ml $189 special, 21 bottles available
Wine Spectator 93 points “Harmonious, with fine intensity, offering rich notes of spice cake, toasted almond, dried cherry, grilled plum and smoky mineral. Almost velvety in texture, with juicy acidity that brings you back for another sip. Delicious. Drink now through 2022. 54 cases made.”
 

Don’t miss any of the other Champagnes from these producers that we have listed below!