Pinot Meunier & Chardonnay, Champagne, France

Let’s sit down and gossip about this toasty & convivial brut grower champagne. It’s smart & sophisticated but it’s not all, crusty about it. If it were a person, it casually went to Juilliard, spends its summers in a tastefully decorated castle and models on the side but like, for the Sears catalogue. It thinks YOU look the best at the gala and it’s patient as a saint when you talk about that petty argument you had with your mother (again). Siblings Vincent and Marie are leading the charge of their family’s 12-hectare estate in Mardeuil, which has been raising champagne grapes since 1832. About 70% of their grapes are sold to the bigger producers (cough-Moët & Chandon-cough) but they hang on to the rest to make sparkling that’s more closely tied to the vintage and their terroir. Here, structured pinot meunier (60%) and rich chardonnay (40%) spent a LONG time aging on its lees, meaning it now smells like every French pastry: flaky brioche, almond croissant, lemon bichon – even the actually good canelé from the Pret a Manger at the Paris airport. And when the baked-good barrage ends, a crisp & bright river rock cleanse begins. Undoubtedly the best thing you could do with these petite bubbles is balance them out with something delightfully trashy, like takeout fried chicken. The more grease-sodden the container, the better.