Chardonnay & Pinot Noir, Champagne, France 

Scintillating, like walking through the gardens of Versailles for the first time. Humble winemakers Hugues Godmé and his daughter Lucille look after a total of 7.5 hectares of vineyards, over 70 micro-parcels across five villages: Verzy, Verzenay, Beaumont sur Vesle, Villers Marmery & Villedommange. Together they are deeply committed to biodynamics (certified since 2014, but working organically previously) and make use of older burgundy barrels rather than new. The fruit for this cuvée spent its time on the northern slope of the Montagne de Reims, in the grand cru village of Verzenay, next to Verzy. FUN FACTS! The average vineyard age is 30 years, but they have two parcels that are over 60, and their average production per year is 4,100 cases! From the highly acclaimed 2012 vintage, a blend of incomparable chardonnay (60%) and pinot noir (40%), aged 10 years (!!) on fine lees in bottle before disgorging. Snappy apple, beekeeper’s assistant, waxy hum, dissolving pear, chalk dust, warm challah bread, whipped mousse, mouse’s sneeze worth of oak, white flower corsage & the type of minerality we imagine would be present at the bottom of the South China Sea’s Dragon Hole. Drink from now to 2050, just make sure you have the time to pay attention.