ARIEL ARCE BETTER 1TH AN EFFERVESCENT EDUCATION IN CHAMPAGNES & SPARKLING WINES I UNIVERSE1001 GOOD CHAMPAGNE COSTS GOOD MONEY, BUT SOMETIMES THAT SCARES PEOPLE AWAY FROM TRYING SOME REALLY GREAT STUFF. SO TO MAKE IT LESS SCARY, I AM GOING TO RATE EACH BOTTLE WITH HOW MANY PIZZAS IT WOULD COST. (BECAUSE YOU KNOW I LOVE PIZZA.) GUESSTIMATING $25 PER PIZZA. Better with Bubbles 063 0728_PopBottles_interior.indd 62-63 7/28/20 4:57 PM Pierre Péters Rodolphe Péters Les Chétillons Blanc de Blanc: Chardonnay Les Mesnil sur Oger THE OG Coffee ice cream René Geoffroy Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy Blanc de Rosé Blend: Pinot Noir + Chardonnay Aÿ ORIGINALS Strawberry rhubarb pie Georges Laval Vincent Laval Premier Cru Brut Nature Cumières Blend: Pinot Noir + Chardonnay + NOW LEADING Pinot Meunier Cumières Powdered raspberry candy 1/2 Pascal Doquet THE CHARGE Pascal Doquet Arpege Blanc de Blanc: 100% Chardonnay Vertus Green apple galette Gaston Chiquet Antoine, Nicolas, and Marion Chiquet Tradition Premier Cru Blend: Pinot Meunier + Chardonnay + Pinot Noir Dizy Quince jam 1/2 Gimmonet Didier Gimonnet Special Club 2012 Blanc de Blanc Cuis Flat white coffee These are the winemakers at the fore- Egly-Ouriet Francis Egly front of the Grower Champagne “movement.” Vieilles Vignes de Vrigny I air-quotes movement because the tides were Blanc de Noir: 100% Pinot Meunier Ambonnay turning long before the wines ever got much Dried Plums recognition. They were first to the US market and 1/2 almost all of them make wine for multi-genera- tional wineries. The vineyards have been passed Benoît Lahaye Benoît Lahaye down through the family and the current wine- Rosé de Maceration makers really took it upon themselves to question Blanc de Noir: Pinot Noir Bouzy why and how their families had made Cham- Chocolate covered cherries pagne before them. Some continue the traditions but with a more thoughtful approach, others have changed style, technique, and practices. Vazart Coquart Jean-Pierre Vazart Respect and obsession has only grown for these Special Club 2010 wines, making them some of the most sought Blanc de Blanc Chouilly after in the world. Honeycomb Better with Bubbles 064 0728_PopBottles_interior.indd 64-65 7/28/20 4:57 PM Here’s a curated selection of these winemakers work a por- vignerons and yet it was their the winemakers making waves, tion of their family’s land, which calling. Others knew becoming young guys pushing the limits has been passed down through a winemaker was always in their of Champagne with a deep un- generations. Some of them blood. THE NEW GEN derstanding of terroir. Each of didn’t think they would become Dhondt-Grellet Suenen Adrien Dhondt Aurelien Suenen Cramant 100% from the Grand Cru Village C+C Blanc de Blanc: 100% Chardonnay Blanc de Blanc: 100% Chardonnay Flavigny Cramant Iced Coffee with Cream Honeysuckle 1/2 Domaine Nowack Doyard Flavien Nowack Oeil de Perdrix La Fontinette Pedrix Style: Chardonnay + Pinot Noir Blanc de Noir: 100% Pinot Meunier Vertus Vandières Potpourri Fuji apple 1/2 Guillaume Selosse Mouzon Leroux Guillaume Selosse Sébastien Mouzon Largillier L’Atavique Blanc de Noir: 100% Pinot Noir Blended Pinot Noir + Chardonnay Côte des Bar Verzy Crunch Bar of flowers and sherry Fresh cherries x 16 Pierre Gerbais JM Sélèque Aurélien Gerbais Jean-Marc Sélèque L’Originale Solessence Rosé Blanc de Blanc: 100% Pinot Blanc Blended saignée + still red wine: Pinot Noir + Celles-sur-Ource Chardonnay + Pinot Meunier Fresh chevre Pierry 1/2 Raspberry tart 1/2 Better with Bubbles 069 0728_PopBottles_interior.indd 68-69 7/28/20 4:57 PM These are serious winemakers. on social media, save for special named-dropped. And they are They have been in the game occasions, and age in cellars. as much about the cellar as the long enough to produce some These wines are often made in vineyard—a lot of the magic of the most exciting yet consis- small production, and definitely happens after the grapes are VIGNERONS tent wines that people show off give credibility to the drinker if harvested. THE WINEMAKERS’ WINEMAKERS Vilmart et Cie Agrapart & Fils Laurent Champs Pascal Agrapart Grand Cellier Mineral Blended: Chardonnay + Pinot Noir Blanc de Blanc: 100% Chardonnay Rilly-la-Montagne Avize Candied ginger Apple pie 1/2 Ulysse Collin R. Pouillon Olivier Collin Fabrice Pouillon Les Perriades Les Valnons Blanc de Blanc: 100% Chardonnay Blanc de Blanc Congy Aÿ Hazelnut pie Chai Tea 1/2 Jérôme Prévost — Chartogne-Taillet Alexandre Chartogne Champagne La Closerie Orizeaux Jérôme Prévost Blanc de Noir: 100% Pinot Noir Les Béguines Extra Brut Merfy Blanc de Noir: 100% Pinot Meunier Spicy French vanilla Gueux Blackberry bramble Roses de Jeanne Emmanuel Brochet Cédric Bouchard Emmanuel Brochet Les Ursules Mont Benoît Lieu-Dit Blanc de Noir: 100% Pinot Noir Blend: Chardonnay + Pinot Noir+ Pinot Meunier Celles-sur-Ource Villers-aux- Nœuds Toasted cashews Sweet cream Eric Rodez Savart Eric Rodez Frederic Savart Rosé L’Ouverture Blended Rosé: Chardonnay + Pinot Noir Blanc de Noir: 100% Pinot Noir Ambonnay Écueil Roasted raspberries Blueberry yoghurt 1/2 1/2 Better with Bubbles 075 0728_PopBottles_interior.indd 74-75 7/28/20 4:58 PM I am all about equal opportunity these are some of my absolute and you cannot fully grasp favorites. Incredible winemaking grower Champagne if you happens here with generational don’t taste foundational and relationships with farmers who MAISONS historical Maison wines. For grow their grapes. the money and the quality I LOVE Bollinger R.D. Extra Brut (Note “R.D.” refers to récemment dégorgé, which means “disgorged late,” or “extended aging.” Another term for this is dégorgement tardif.) Blend: Pinot Noir + Chardonnay Aÿ Ferrero Rocher x 26 Gosset Philiponnat Celebris Clos de Goisses Blend: Pinot Noir + Chardonnay Blend: Pinot Noir + Chardonnay Épernay Mareuil-sur-Ay Blackberry cream x 8 Jacquesson Henroit 737 Dégorgement Tardif Cuvée des Enchanteleurs Blend: Pinot Noir + Chardonnay Blend: Pinot Noir + Chardonnay Dizy Reims Sandalwood Buttered popcorn x 10 x 7 Pol Roger Winston Churchill 2002 Blend: Pinot Noir + Chardonnay Épernay Iced Latte x 10 Better with Bubbles 095 0728_PopBottles_interior.indd 94-95 7/28/20 4:59 PM 0728_PopBottles_interior.indd 48-49 7/28/20 4:56 PM.