One House, Many Styles

We have added several different styles from the Champagne Lacourte-Godbillon Collection. These are outstanding champagnes that offer possibly the best price:value ratio among our sparkling wines. This Champagne house began, as so many do, selling their grapes to the big, famous producers. In the 1960's, however, they established the Lacourte-Godbillon brand. We'll let them -and Wine Spectator- explain from here.

The vine has a lot in common with Man: it needs to be watched and understood, educated and helped to thrive in the terroir it finds itself. Great viticulture expresses the essence of the place in the grapes.

Our vision for the wine is simple, almost simplistic: It must be an expression of its terroir. The oak used for our barrels is sourced from the Écueil forest or from Champagne-Ardenne. Each plot is pressed and vinified separately and the juice is moved by gravity as far as possible and not pumped, to conserve the musts’ intrinsic qualities. The wines stay in tank or barrel in contact with their lees deposits, without racking, for the whole autumn period, so they develop their full complexity and unique personality. For the wines made in oak barrels, no stirring or filtering is carried out. The chilling process then takes place... outside in the winter cold!

The bottles are aged in our cellars for between 30 months and 7 years. This is followed by an average resting time of 3 to 6 months after the yeast deposits have been removed (disgorgement). The optimum "dosage" for each wine in each year, is decided by several trial tastings. Our objective is to find the best possible balance as each wine is a living being with its own character.

In blending, around 50 wines have been tasted and re-tasted over a few days. We need to identify the profile of each wine and its characteristics. Many still wines ("vins clairs") are involved, including wines from that year, reserve wines from previous harvests, some of which are vinified in tanks and others in oak barrels.

Look for the following styles:

Brut, Non-Vintage. 91 points from Wine Spectator: "Well-balanced, this well-cut, aperitif-style version features a mix of savory accents of fleur de sel, almond skin and raisin bread, paired with dried apricot, lemon curd and honey notes. The mouthwatering acidity brings you back for another sip." The blend is 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay from the 2011 vintage, with 30% reserve wines from 2010 and 2009 vintages.
Regular Price: $37.99
Bottle Club® Price: $32.96

Brut, 2008 Vintage. 90 points from Wine Spectator: "A fresh version that offers a lively, lacy bead and subtle flavors of green pear, slivered almond, dried apricot and fleur de sel. Disgorged January 2015. Drink now through 2020. 370 cases made." 50% each of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with balanced complexity and freshness.
Regular Price: $47.99
Bottle Club® Price: $42.96

Demi Sec. 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay. This is our lowest-priced Demi Sec Champagne. On the nose, red fruit and floral notes that gradually reveal the predominance of the Pinot Noir grapes. It's full-bodied, with a lively attack. Enjoy with desserts or as an aperitif. (If you are still learning about Champagne styles, Demi Sec is considered off-dry, or slightly sweet)
Regular Price: $38.99
Bottle Club® Price: $34.96

Extra Brut. Drier than Brut but not as dry a Brut Nature (Natural). This is our only Extra Brut Champagne. 91 points from Wine Spectator: "An elegant, well-cut sparkler, with a lively, lacy texture carrying a ripe note of poached apple and accents of chalk, almond skin and sea salt. Disgorged October 10, 2013. Drink now through 2019. 250 cases made."
Regular Price: $44.99
Bottle Club® Price: $39.96