My Beloved Little Sister Got Engaged - Out of Every Wine in My Cellar This is the Wine That I Opened at the Engagement Dinner...

One can forget things when one writes over 250 email offers a year. The emails and texts started
coming a few months ago. Usually late at night and usually when the client had finished the bottle. I'll quickly summarize them below.

1. This stuff is stunning. Can you get more?
2. This is like Krug
3. This is like Bollinger RD
4. This is as perfect a Champagne as I've ever had. 

Usually that hyperbole is what you read in these email offers. It was nice hearing it frommy clients. I researched and saw I gave it a 10 on Delectable and also that is was my Sparkling wine of the year. So what is the wine. It is the NV Perseval Farge Jean Baptiste Brut and it can be had for $57.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. I have reserved the last of it (100 bottles and then it is gonzo) for you and after that it is gone for good. It can't be made again because of the unique nature of the blend. It is a blend of 55% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunièr. What gets interesting is the years the blend is from. It is 40% 1999, 50% 1998 and 10% 1996. It is aged in bottle for many years after it is blended. Now that is a great blend of vintages. Champagne is a blender's art. This is a great example of blending across grapes and vintages. I can see this aging for 10-15 more years but it is ready now due to the blend of older vintages.

The nose is class and complexity at the same time. Brioche, minerals, and so yeasty. One of those noses that you can stand on your chair and have the glass on the table 5 feet below you and you can still smell it. It has that aged youth thing that great aged Champagne has, yet it is still brilliantly youthful on the palate with the finest mousse I tasted during my time in Champagne. When I re-tasted it last night this was confirmed yet again. The finest mousse. As I look back on my note, the wine almost rushed back onto my palate. The finesse and wonderful toasty/brioche quality backed by the terrific minerality that frames it all. The acid makes your face smile. It can't help it. There is power, concentration and so much sap. The balance is extraordinary. The finish that is long and beautifully elegant. It just dissipates on the palate but leaves something as well. Just such classy and sophisticated bubbles. Classy and sophisticated are descriptors that are kept almost exclusively when describing great Champagne. Of course there is real depth here as the blend of vintages gives it that and there is no lack of freshness due to the high acid of these 3 vintages. I can safely say this is my favorite Champagne I import.

I am all about drinking Champagne on special occasions but also not pigeonholing it as a beverage for just special occasions. But this wine is that special. At my sister's celebration dinner for her engagement, this was the Champagne I chose. For those who are interested, she married a great guy and they seem very happy.  I couldn't be more thrilled for them.

Please do not think of this as a $57.99 Champagne.  It would cost $80 or more through three tier and at that price, it is an undiscovered value.  This wine has been resting in the cellar for almost 20 years - for the finance types, do a back of the envelope on the time value of money impact on this wine.

I think this is at the same quality level as all the hipster/somm faves, Prevost, Bereche and Brochet, but since I am always ahead of the curve it is not discovered as no one has IG'ed or Delectable'd it and hashtagged it with #unicornwine or #ballerwine. This wine is worth at least 75 likes on Delectable and 100+ on Instagram.

 NV Perseval Farge "Cuvee Jean Baptiste" - $59.99 ($173.97 3-pack)