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.
Up first is the third vintage of what is now a Fass Selections stalwart, the 2011 Brice Bouzy Grand Cru for $49.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This wine is the first vintage Brice I've had that is stunning and can be drunk upon release. It's gorgeous. Remi refers to it as the Big Sister. The wine has a personality as big as Remi's. It is super elegant with enormous concentration. Man is this wine elegant. It smells elegant. How can a wine smell elegant? I don't know but this one does. The palate is dense and pure along with all that concentration. The nose is all minerals and red cherries. It's very very precise and wispy and reveals new things every minute. Even some white pepper nuances after some coaxing. Floral as well. It is so fresh on the palate. The freshness and ebullience of this wine cannot be overstated. It has startling balance. Just perfect. It is structured but not as much as the 10 or 08, but the 11 is about aromas and balance. It has a lean opulence as well. And it is long. I mean really long and dissipates so beautifully. It will be bottled in two months and ready for all of you in the Fall. I am impatiently waiting for to arrive. This should cost $85+ through standard 3 tier but I buy direct so it's under $50. This will hold its own at any tasting of top grower Champagnes.
Now for a new wine from Brice which absolutely stunned me for its zen-like beauty. This wine is the sound of a tree falling in the forest and no one hearing it. Total zen. The Brice Grand Cru Bouzy NV can be has today for $37.99 on a 4-pack. This is easily one of the best Champagne values I've ever sold at Fass Selections. This wine puts the haunting in hauntingly elegant. It is so wispy, so fine, so finesse driven that it is there but not there at the same time. The nose is white pepper, lavender, saline extract and minerals. It is so delicate. God this a beautiful Champagne. What a mouthfeel! So elegant yet also sappy and dense but so there and not there. I know my description is weird but this Champagne almost defies description it is so elegant and wispy and elegant. This is beauty. It's perhaps the most beautiful thing in the world when you are drinking it. Remi calls it the little sister to the above big sister but for me it is beauty defined in liquid. The way this wine dissipates on your palate is unforgettable. I feel like I just writ ad copy for some new fragrance or something but that is what the wine does and is. It is remarkable. This should cost $55-$60 through standard 3 tier but I buy direct so it's an amazing deal.
I had an absolutely fantastic visit with Remi Brice on my recent visit to France. Remi is what we Americans like to call a character and he has a "joie de vivre" unlike anyone I have ever met. It was a joyous visit that energized me like no other visits in Champagne. I fully got Brice. Remi is the 16th generation at Brice and his 4 year old daughter Marie is the 17th. His father is the 15th and his 98 year old grandfather is the 14th. Remi told me that his grandfather still can taste with the best of them and when he pours him a glass, he tastes it and says "Great job, Remi." Champagne keeps the mind sharp and the soul young. Remi's personality makes sense in that if you were the 16th generation of a legendary Champagne house why would you not be happy? He is the heartbeat of Brice and I've never seen someone so happy with what they do for a living. It was inspiring. Today I've got two beautiful bottles of Brice Champagnes. I'm super exited to offer these as I've been waiting to offer one for a while and the other Champagne might be one of the best deals of all time on a Champagne so wispy, so elegant and so finessed I could not believe it. We've got the Big Sister and the Little Sister today from Bouzy.
2011 Brice Bouzy Grand Cru - $52.99 ($199.96 4-pack)
NV Brice Bouzy Grand Cru - $39.99 ($151.96 4-pack)
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