I wanted to be able to offer this wine before it sells out. There are precious few bottles left.The wine is so good and one of the best Champagnes I sell and for under $50 is a terrific value. I also have the latest batch of their stunning Grand Cru BDB which is a ridiculous value for under $40. It's been too long since I've offered Brice.
At the high end of Champagne, you have your geek Champagnes that the Champagne geeks love. Complex. Almost brooding. But often austere and verging on charmless. They are interesting but rarely delicious. Then you have the more approachable Champagnes that are delicious and forward with lovely fruit and the classic Champagne acidity, but they can be less interesting. There are very few Champagnes that have the stuff to appeal to both worlds; this is one of them.
If you bought the 2008 Brice Bouzy Grand Cru and have not had it, leave work, go directly home and open a bottle. I opened one just today and the wine is just ridiculous. I had it alongside one of the top geek Champagne producers and the Brice blew it away.
At $50 the '08 is one of the greatest Champagne values I have ever had. Now comes the very very worthy successor, which is the 2010 Brice Bouzy Grand Cru, which can be had for $49.99 on a 4-pack. Brice's style is as elegant as it gets in Champagne. This wine is at the same qualitative level wines costing $100+ at traditional retail (e.g. its stylistic cousin Pommery Cuvée Louise). It has an incredible level of finesse and sophistication. There is density, sap and incredible concentration all wrapped in the most elegant package you can believe.
The Nose; The nose is so complex you basically need slo-mo technology to fully appreciate it. There is so much going on m the brain cannot fully process it. Intense and powerful aromas of red fruits and compote. Honestly, I can't even describe everything that is going on. I was swirling and sniffing it for 15 minutes before I even tasted it. After it airs, the nose has just a mineral stank that is right in my wheelhouse. Umami for days.
The Palate: The palate has a sharp beginning with a delicious juiciness that makes you shake your head; there is stunning balance. Again, there is a lot going on. It has a level of across the board impact as great Grand Cru Burgundy or top Grosses Gewachs with waves of fruit, acidity and minerality that just hit the palate like repeating shock waves after an explosion. There is superb structure. A salty, saline, biscuits mineral goodness just envelops the 2010. It has absolutely some of the finest mousse out there. It's not DP/Krug mousse, but the level below which is super impressive for a vintage Champagne for $50 (it would be $80-$100 3 tier). The fruit is there but more of a suggestion but the tart tangy cherries bring to mind wonderful Beaune reds. The mineral expression of Bouzy fruit is just remarkable and Jean-Rene captures it perfectly in the 2010. The concentration is very impressive. The complexity is just spectacular if that is what you are after, but besides being complex, which is appealing in a cerebral way, it is also just ridiculously delicious because of the soft mousse and exquisite balance. And the length. It has the cling that truly great wines have. It becomes a part of your palate but in an ethereal way.
The Finish: The long, sappy finish lingers for about 30 seconds with complexity that vanishes like a sunset. OK, I'm waxing poetic but I absolutely love this wine. It has the length of Grand Cru Chablis which is what comes to mind most when drinking the 2010.
This is a Champagne to sit and contemplate like a great bottle of Burgundy. It is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. I cannot explain how great this bottling is. Brice is exactly what I look for in Champagne. Not bone dry, exquisitely balanced, speaks of place, has a sense of harmony that only high end Grand Cru/Tete de cuvee Champagne has. And the price for Brice reflects the fact that they are new to the US. It has the structure for 10-15 years evolution in the bottle. Do not miss this. For $50 in Champagne there are very few values like this. Jump on this.
If you normally spend $80-$120 and up on Champagne, buy as much of this as you can and drink it once a month. Serve it at parties. If you splurge once a year on a great bottle, this should be it. It will give you an entree into the normally unaffordable world of top tier Champagne.
It is not often you can find a Grand Cru Extra Brut Blancs de Blanc from Bouzy, a predominantly Pinot Noir village for under $60, pretty rarer under $50, and at under $40, you'd have to call me Crazy Eddie. But insanity is a wonderful thing when it comes to my colorful palate of descriptors for all of these wines. The Brice BDB falls firmly in the insane category. Weighing in at 4 grams p/l of RS (residual sugar) this wine has insane acidity. I love acid and this is what gives it the insane moniker. Like Travis d'Arnaud framing a deadly Matt Harvey 12-6 curveball the acidity in the NV Brice Blancs de Blanc Extra Brut Bouzy, which can be had for as little as $39.99 a bottle on a 4-pack, frames the wealth of stark minerals and gorgeous fruit/mineral density. Sap for days on the palate and big like great Blancs de Blanc should be, but by no means sacrificing the super finesse driven house style of Brice. This is gorgeous and is about as dry as Blancs de Blancs gets without being a severe screecher. Some of these Brut nature BDB's I cannot wrap my head around to be honest and lack charm because of the lack of sugar. The 4 grams of sugar is perfect as it gives it slight body/texture to go along with the mineralic force. It is amazing how a wine can be so dense and yet so elegant and pretty at the same time. The iron fist in a velvet glove strikes again. Stunning wine. And at $39.99 this is a terrific value. I think this will age beautifully for 10-15 years as the acid spine gives this a wonderful structure for medium term aging. Remember, through 3-tiers this is around $60 a bottle....and the quality is there for $60, yet only $39.99 from me.
2010 Brice Bouzy Grand Cru - $52.99 ($199.96 4-pack)
NV Brice Extra Brut Blancs de Blanc - $41.99 ($159.96 4-pack)
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