Thin bubble stream. Burnt orange, in color. Strawberry, cranberry, lemon, saline, mineral. cranberry juice, tart citrus, good acidity, on the finish.
Blend: 85% Chardonnay, 15% Meunier
Consume: now-2023
Purchased: $32
Score: 89 points
Alexandre Le Brun
Family establishment that has continued the Alexandre Le Brun tradition for 9 generations. The champagnes rest serenely in a vaulted cellar, hand-hollowed from 1822.
At just 7.5 acres, Alexandre Le Brun is the smallest producer from Champagne that we import, or even carry. He only makes wine from half of the grapes he brings in, selling the rest off to négociants. His production is just one thousand cases a year total. This tiny scale allows Alex to do nearly everything himself and his hands-on approach shows through in the finished product. He only uses his own estate fruit for his Champagne, and, although small, it is diverse. He farms 22 plots in eight different villages. Among these are some of the oldest vines in Champagne, as the Meunier vines of Vignes l’Etoges in Monthelon were planted in 1902, making them now 117 years old.