Champagne Fluteau Coeur de Cuvee Extra Brut NV (Magnum 1.5L)

With a history going all the way back to 1935, Champagne Fluteau is one of the pioneering wineries of the Côte des Bar – and this delightful MAGNUM of 100% pinot noir is a treat! For well under $80, it’s a delightfully robust, large-format Champagne worthy of your next soiree, large or small! 94 Points, too!

The Côte des Bar is home to a new wave of avant-garde grower producers that are raising the bar (I had to…) of what it means to be Champagne, and yet, while Fluteau can stand proudly as a peer – it is nevertheless important to recognize that the region would scarcely have any grower producers at all if not for the pioneering efforts of the region’s early houses like Fluteau. This area wasn’t even considered a part of “Champagne” before 1927, thanks to the 1911 classification. When the great houses of Reims at long last acquiesced to include the region, they ensured that neither Grand Cru nor Premier Cru status was granted to the vineyards and villages of the Côte des Bar. It was a place to furtively source fruit for blending, sure, but no great wine could be actually produced there. My, how times have changed!

For four generations, the Fluteau family has crafted wines from their own estate vineyards, in their original winery. Neither rigid to traditional methods nor pompously seeking the newest fads, these under-the-radar wines have struck an impeccable balance. They experience a melding of time-honored techniques with the integration of the newest technological advances in an effort to make this spectacular portfolio of small production cuvees.

This remarkable bubbly is based on the 2018 harvest, with 50% of the estate’s solera-style reserves rounding out the blend. The fruit is all from the sloping parcel known as Les Evallons – where 60-year-old vines of pinot noir grow on the region’s famous Kimmeridgian soils. Bright and complex aromas of Meyer lemon, fresh hay, and golden apples mingle with a salty sea spray minerality, plus plums and pluots, with grassy herbs – like pineapple sage and lemon verbena, and a final kiss of fruity sweetness that evokes golden raspberries. Thank goodness the bottle is large because there’s so much going on here – and all of it is good! Only 4 grams dosage keeps this percolating and fresh, and perfect for a bite of food. We have extremely limited allocations, so grab yours while we still have some!

PAIRING IDEAS: I’d humbly suggest some vibrant and soulful bouillabaisse, a light but full-flavored French stew with seafood and tomatoes that will make this Champagne explode.