Grower Champagne Two-Pack

• NV Vincent Couche Elegance Brut Champagne
• NV José Michel Brut Tradition Champagne

$116 $79.99

Two excellent winemakers committed to ecological winemaking. Two unique examples of the complex terroir of Champagne. Two distinct styles. Both complex and delicious.

Vincent Couche crafts biodynamic wines using only native yeasts and does not add sulfur. The elegance cuvée is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay with a low dosage. Compelling, elegant, bright, and fresh.

José Michel is a fifth-generation winemaker, and he has been at it for more than fifty years. José is a founding member of the "Special Club" Tresors de Champagne group. Certified organic, his Brut Tradition is 70% Pinot Meunier and 30% Chardonnay. The base vintage is typically two years old and is blended with older reserve wines for complexity, refinement, and to create the house style. Classic Champagne refinement from a small estate. It doesn't get better than this!

The Wines

NV Vincent Couche Elegance Brut Champagne

Vincent Couche may be one of the star grower-producers in Champagne, but he doesn't see himself as a winemaker. He says wine comes from the stars, the sun, the soil, the sky, and he's just a caretaker, a guide. For the last 20 years, he's been tending his 13 ha in the Côte des Bar with incredible care. He farms biodynamically, uses native yeasts, and doesn't add sulfur. The results are nothing less than stellar. The Elegance cuvée is 80% pinot noir, 20% chardonnay, with a mere 2 g/L dosage (he lets the wine tell him how much to add). The pinot brings bright raspberry aromas and a hint of red apple on the palate while the extended lees aging gives it a dense toasty richness. Yet it remains bright, fresh, and delicate. elegant. In a word: elegant. It's one of the most compelling and refined Champagnes I've had at this price.

NV José Michel Brut Tradition

The non-vintage Brut is a blend in which the 70% Pinot Meunier forms the base and 30% Chardonnay adds complexity and finesse. In addition to the base vintage (typically 2 years old), the NV Brut benefits from being blended with reserve wines that are often 4 or 5 years old. The champagne is typically 2+ years “sur lattes” and carries a dosage of 9 grams.

On the nose: An aromatic, seductive bouquet with hints of citrus fruits, lemon, mandarin.

Taste: Bears intensity and good length on the palate. A full and structured palate, with hints of citrus and red fruit.