Club Corner
Champagne Club December 2025: Message in a Bottle
Now that we’re approaching the apex of celebration season, I find myself wondering, with every toast: Why Champagne? Besides being delicious, what accounts for its specific mystique, its literal elevated status - the raised glasses in which we so often hold the stuff - its figurative fizz, if you will? Sounds odd, but I think it in large part comes down to the inevitable tension between bubbles and time. On the one hand - nothing sparkling can stay that way for long; on the other, the precision, attention, and patience it takes to produce great Champagne, the rigorous and lengthy stations of methode Champenoise (assemblage, remouage, degorgement, dosage) require a life’s work – all to conjugate a particular future-present pluperfect tense. The sound a popped Champagne cork makes is NOW and it starts the countdown to the end of each bottle’s effervescence. So we use Champagne to welcome each New Year, punctuate personal milestones, and bookmark special occasions because it’s a libation commensurate with our ambivalence over nothing ever staying the same. Or maybe it’s something more like what beloved, problematic author Roald Dahl (creator of Fizzy Lifting Drink after all) allegedly told his daughter once: “I drink it because it’s fizzy and makes me go WHEEE.” Either way, reaching the end of another year, and trying to select a bottle that bridges the gap between the NYE NOW! and NYD NOW WHAT‽, my thought process was: if we want some new looks for the new year (and I certainly do), we should probably consult a visionary - and Phillipe Lancelot is certainly that. After inheriting the grand cru parcels his family had farmed since the 1970’s, Philipe embarked on a mission to overhaul and revitalize these invaluable heirlooms, partnering with Hervé Jestin of Leclerc Briant to convert to organic and biodynamic farming - rarer in Champagne than other parts of the winemaking world - achieving all the most rigorous certifications by 2015. Since 2015, Phillipe has also eschewed the use of added sulfites as well, which is even harder to find, and perhaps even a first for the Champagne Club. His are extremely small production bottlings, where every vintage very much has its own DNA. As Philipe himself is fond of saying: “Nature is well made, there is surely nothing better than nature?” I agree, but I love the question mark at the end there too, since I think it clarifies the message in this particular bottle. It is delicious and will rise to whatever occasion, whether you’re using it to welcome the new year, or saving it for a special celebration yet to come. And that is kind of amazing. As another ponyboy visionary famously noted once: “Nature’s first green is gold/her hardest hue to hold.” Yet somehow Champagne manages - at least for a while. Happy New Year! The PlumpJack Family Philippe Lancelot Chouilly ‘Le Fond Du Bateau’ 2019 Grand Cru From: FRANCE • Champagne Côte de Blancs • Chouilly About the Winery: Philippe Lancelot represents the third generation of his Cramant-based family estate, Y. Lancelot-Wanner. The domaine holds vines across the most historical and prestigious Grand Cru communes, including Chouilly, Oiry as well as Avize, Epernay and Aÿ. Upon graduation from oenological school in Avize in 2008, Philippe began to make wines for Y. Lancelot-Wanner as well as his eponymous label. In 2012, Philippe adopted biodynamic practices in all his vineyards to promote auto-immunity in his vines. The domaine received AB Ecocert certification in 2014, Demeter in 2015 and Biodyvin in 2020. Assemblage/Vinification: Philippe’s commitment to biodynamic viticulture is deep - with the use of 500 and 501 preparations, essential oils and natural plant applications, and adhering to the Maria Thun lunar calendar in the process. Copper sulfate treatment in the soil is minimal or even eliminated, just as sulphites are eschewed in the winemaking. All vines are trained in selection massale to retain their individualities. He also pursues full and unique expressions of the terroir in his cuvées with his creative lens, tapping on his imagination to interpret the identity of each parcel in his ‘parcels et coups de cœur’ (single vineyards and favourites). Dosage: 0g/l Tasting notes: A 100% Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs from the revered Le Fond du Bateau vineyard in Chouilly. This zero-dosage, sulfite-free Champagne is a testament to Lancelot’s biodynamic practices, with grapes grown on pure chalk soils for unmatched minerality. The 2019 vintage offers tight perlage, white flower aromas, and a palate of toasty almonds, baked orchard fruits and creamy texture, culminating in a long, acid-driven finish. Winemaker: Philippe Lancelot Price per bottle / Price per case: $124.99/$1349.90 Suggested Food Pairing: Oven-roasted lobster with salted butter, Barbecued Sea Bream, Fresh Tagliatelle with Seafood
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Champagne Club April 2024
We ❤️ Nicolas Maillart Generally, this club features two bottles every other month, with the exception of December, when we sometimes like to present one special bottle for the holidays. This month however, a series of signs, circumstances, auguries, adumbrations, gentle epiphanies and outright reasons conspired to garland a single, specific concatenation of bubbles as our spring selection: Nicolas Maillart’s 2019 1er Cru Extra Brut Montchenot. So, one bottle for April; a lovely Blanc de Noir, an outstanding vigneron and vintage pairing appropriate for all seasonal occasions - Passover, Mother’s Day, Graduation - between now and June (it really sings with food too), from a winemaker you’ll be hearing a lot more from. While Nicolas Maillart has clearly been one of Champagne’s brightest lights for some time, his wines were barely available in this country until quite recently. His family’s wine growing roots in the region go back to 1753, when his ancestors grew vines in the village of Chamery (although there is a document that suggests the tradition goes back even further, referring to a “measure of vines” in 1533 that was mapped out by Pierre Maillart, a surveyor working in Chamery for the Saint Nicaise abbey.) Today, the family owns vines in the Premier and Grand Cru villages of the Montagne de Reims, with cellars in the tiny hamlet of Écueil. This longue duree in the area has meant they were able to select and keep the best terroirs over the years. With many older, well-established vines that are mostly planted halfway up the hillsides, the vineyards are ideally located for producing excellent quality wines. In keeping with the region’s typicity, the Maillart vineyards contain a high proportion of Pinot Noir vines (75%) together with Chardonnay and the extremely rare (never tried it ourselves) Petit Meslier. Nicolas represents the 9th generation at the helm, having taken over in 2003 after completing studies in engineering and oenology. He controls, farms, and manages all of his vineyards himself, working all of his soils. In the winery, Nicolas believes the key to great wines lies in paying particular attention to the first few hours of the winemaking process. He regularly monitors its progress by tasting and gears subsequent practices accordingly. Vinification and maturing are carried out either in vats or in the barrel depending on the source of the grapes. His reserve wines are also partly matured in barrels to increase their complexity. This gives Nicolas a wide variety of wines to choose from when blending, enabling him to make Champagnes of a consistent quality whilst also being able to set aside those that are highly original and particularly expressive. After laying down in the cellar for a long period, the wines are disgorged, followed by a further few months in the cellar before labeling and packaging. Speaking of labeling: his passion for the environment led him to build 130 square meters of photovoltaic panels in 2009, which represent a production equivalent to 90% of their consumption, greatly reducing the carbon footprint. The domain is now labeled HVE (high environmental value) and sustainable viticulture, taking into account criteria such as biodiversity, pest strategy, and water management, making the family the first in Champagne to obtain this double certification. Cheers, PlumpJack Wine Team Nicolas Maillart 2019 1er Cru Extra Brut ‘Montchenot’ From: Villers Allerand About the Winemaking: 100% Pinot Noir. This vintage comes only from the village of Villers Allerand, more specifically from Montchenot (the village of Nicolas' mother). Montchenot is a unique junction village between the small and large mountain, and shares the geology of the two regions (sand, clay and chalk). It is vinified in barrels and aged for one year on the lees, and another three years in bottles. Like all Nicolas Maillart bottlings, this wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation, is not filtered or fined and is very lightly sulphured (if at all). Assemblage/Vinification: Aged for 10 months in 228L oak barrels or 3000L foudre. Dosage: 1 g/l Tasting Notes: “This Blanc de Noirs champagne will seduce you with the amplitude of its apple, mineral and wild berry aromas. In the mouth, it reveals a frank attack and a remarkable amplitude. “Very fine perfume of hawthorn, geranium, roses, walnut, cox orange, blood grape and rhubarb. Dense fresh and mineral pure taste.” - Richard Juhlin Winemaker: Nicolas Maillart Price per bottle / Price per case: $119.99/$1295.89 Suggested Food Pairing: Aged Comte and Beaufort cheeses, cured meats, Vegetable Tempura, Grilled Plank Salmon, Tuna Steak, Mushroom Risotto.
Learn moreApril '23 Champagne Club
Gonet-Médeville & Marie Copinet Spring done sprung since our last installment of Champagne Club, and other than the weather, most of the traditional indicia have arrived rite (sorry) on schedule. Spring training is over, the full not-a-drill season is mid-swing, and that got me free associating: Of the 5-10 video cassettes in my childhood VCR rotation, one was the movie Field of Dreams, and there’s this part where James Earl Jones, backed by strings and the ghosts of old outfielders, intones: “The one constant throughout the years, Ray, has been baseball” - but I kinda think it might be Champagne? After all, Champagne is older than baseball, more ubiquitous (celebration libation of the entire sportsball world) and doesn’t require periodic rule changes like pitch and batting clocks, starting the 10th with runner on 2nd etc, to speed up the spritz. Quite the opposite in fact: methode traditionelle is still what sells, and the demand for rarified bubbly remains high despite ever-rising prices. Indeed, from what we hear, distributors are having difficulty finding new vignerons in the region with affordable bottlings not already on US shelves. The two producers we are featuring this month are thus old favorites both, but in slightly different guises. Each cuvee is new to our store and club and represents incredible quality for the cost. Pop either at your next Printemps get-together and people will most definitely come, Ray. Gonet-Médeville is a grower champagne house located in Bisseuil, within the Marne Valley region, which is famous for their exceptionally pure chalky soil. Founded in 2000, and comprising just 12 hectares, it is the happy product of the professional and personal marriage of Julie and Xavier Gonet-Médeville, scions of two famous French winemaking families. Julie’s is famous for its incomparable Chateau Gilette, an iconic Sauternes estate in Bordeaux dating back to 1870; Xavier comes from a long line of Champagne growers in Le Mesnil. Gonet-Médeville is part of the group Les Artisans du Champagne, which prides itself on uniting work in the vineyard with work in the cellar. As Julie and Xavier themselves say, “being Champagne Artisans expresses our total involvement in all stages the production of our Champagnes. From growing practices to the choice of plant material, from harvest to disgorging, we come in and create living Champagnes reflecting our knowledge and culture.” The resulting wines are elegant, delicate, festive, and easy to drink. Champagne Marie Copinet is likewise the progeny of a married couple, both with deep roots in Champagne. In 1956, Alexandre Kowal’s grandparents inherited some vines and created their own brand in the village of Cuchery, on the right bank of the Marne valley. Marie-Laurie Copinet’s father Jacques started out working for Taittinger and selling his own fruit, from his vineyards in the tiny village of Montgenost (pop. 140) to Moet, before founding the family estate winery in 1975. Today, Alexandre is the cellar-master at Copinet, and together he and Marie have utilized their combined experience in the area to blaze a singular trail. They make their own non-flavored dosage for all their bottlings, and designed and built a custom stainless steel egg-shaped fermenter, the first in Champagne, the shape of which allows the lees to circulate without stirring and, unlike the more common concrete eggs, doesn’t sacrifice acidity to do so. The 2013 Monsieur Leonard, is the Tête du Cuvée (“top batch”) from the best Chardonnay lots of 2013. It is spends about 8 years on lees, was disgorged in 2022, and is a very small production (around 250 cases). We are thrilled to feature it this month, alongside the Gonet-Médeville. Cheers, PlumpJack Wine Team Gonet-Médeville Brut 1er Cru Tradition From: FRANCE • Champagne • Vallee de la Marne About the Winery: In 2000, when his family’s plots in Champagne were being divided, Xavier opted for a modest collection of the highest quality 1er and Grand Cru vineyards with a goal of producing only the most exquisite, small-production Champagnes. Champagne Gonet-Médeville’s Pinot Noir (1er Cru Bisseuil and Grand Cru Ambonnay) and Chardonnay (Grand Cru Mesnil-Sur-Oger) are farmed organically, and each parcel is vinified separately to emphasize its individual terroir. There is no chaptalization, malolactic fermentation, or fining, and dosage is minute. The wines are matured for a minimum of two years before release. Assemblage/Vinification: The grapes are gently pressed and racked into thermoregulated vats. Fermentation in stainless steel (90%) and old casks (10%). No chaptalization, no malolactic fermentation, no fining for their wines. Matured in bottle for two years. 70% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir, 5% Pinot Meunier. Tasting notes: A firm version, with an airy mousse and a light toast to flavors of black currant, oyster shell, lemon zest and sliced almond, backed by vibrant acidity that lingers on the creamy finish. Winemaker: Julie and Xavier Gonet Medeville Price per bottle / Price per case: $47/$507.60 Suggested Food Pairing: Seafood Pasta Dishes Fried Chicken French Fries Sushi And Sashimi Marie Copinet ‘Monsieur Leonard’ 2013 From: FRANCE • Champagne •, Vallée de la Marne About the Winery: Like all Récoltants Manipulant, this grower Champagne house only allows Marie-Laure Copinet and her husband Alexandre Kowal to create wines that purely reflect their estate’s terroir. With the same chalky dolomite soils of Epernay and Reims that retain very little water and create grapes of great concentration, the mean temperature is 51°F, actually colder than Vancouver, Canada. With this very cool climate, the Vin Claire (once-fermented juice) has astronomical acidity, ensuring wines that are gracefully cellar-worthy. Their 16.5 acres are within the village of Montgenost, mostly south-facing slopes and planted primarily to Chardonnay. Assemblage/Vinification: Dosage: Hand-harvested before sunrise, then rigorously table-sorted at the estate before pressing within the hour, the wines have no oxidative quality. Using only the free-run and first press, yield is only 400 pounds of juice from 2,000 pounds of grapes. Primary fermentation in concrete tanks, bottle fermentation and aging all take place in the frigid 45°F cellar, temperatures that slow the fermentation for maximum aromatics and complexity. Dosage is always unflavored and only 5-6 g/L. Using the first egg-shaped Stainless Steel fermenter in winemaking (they had it custom-made to keep acidity bright) they bring subtle richness to their cuvees, using tank convection currents to gently stir the lees (without using oak or the more vigorous battonage technique). Tasting notes: Grapefruit zest. Energetic and bright with mineral, spring flowers and white peach fruit linked to a medium texture. Nervous yet seductive, with minerality framing the finish of Brioche. Brioche richness and leesy, croissant quality. Winemaker: Marie-Laurie and Alexandre Copinet Price per bottle / Price per case: $73/$788.40 Suggested Food Pairing: Creamy Mushroom Soup Macaroni and Cheese Oysters Dover Sole
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