Stunningly, Elegant - One of Only 2 Champagnes Carried by One of the Most Highly Regarded French Wine Stores

I was very excited to visit Phillipe Brugnon in Rilly La Montagne as one of the most highly regarded

wine stores in France carries this and Selosse in their store and no other Champagnes. Phillipe Brugnon is making incredibly elegant, complex Champagne.  Don't be fooled by the price - these are 1er cru from Montagne but from lesser known villages and in the hands of a terrific winemaker, they are incredibly good and ridiculous values.  These are good enough to serve to wine geeks but inexpensive enough to drink every day (or at a party).  Stock up!

I'm offering the NV Phillipe Brugnon Brut 1er Cru "Cuvee Elegance" which can be had for as little as $32.99 on the 4-pack.  This is a ridiculous value, partly because I'm buying direct and partly because this is a great winemaker in a lesser known village.  But these compete favorably with 3 tier wines in the $50-$70 range. The Brut Elegance had an elegant and light nose as the label suggests with startlingly pure and lovely fruit on the palate with just incredible, incredible complexity. Super vivid and pure throughout on the palate. SO sappy as well but while retaining all the elegance. And I mean ALL the elegance. The "Cuvee Elegance" is 70% Chardonnay from Rilly and 30% Pinot Noir from Ecuiel. It  is an easy drinking wine yet very complex which is a specialty of Fass Selections Champagnes. As soon as I walked out I said "This is the Marie Demets of the North." I don't like particularly austere Champagne but love me some complexity. This hits all those categories. Stunning wine, especially for $33 a bottle.

These wines are the complete polar opposite of the Marie Demets cuvees.  Marie Demets, being from the South, are more germanic, crystalline and pure while Brugnon is all about palate complexity.  As grower champagne becomes more important, wine buyers are enjoying learning about differences in terroir and how it impacts the the taste of the wines. A Demets/Brugnon blind tasting down the road sounds like an intriguing proposition.

Phillipe Brugnon is a an older gentleman and distinctly old school. We took a tour of the winemaking facilities and saw all that wacky sparkling wine equipment. I must recommend a visit through any Champagne producer's cellar as the equipment can be very wacky. We looked through his private cellar and I oohed and aahed over choice bottles of Grand Cru Burgundy and 1st Growth Bordeaux. Then we went to taste in the tasting room. Now this is where things went a bit off kilter. Phillipe is a member of a very old Champagne sabering society that has members all around the world. Apparently sabering is a sacred ceremony and there is so much more to it than I originally thought. My traveling companion and I both popped our sabering cherries with the guidance of Phillipe Brugnon, who is by far, the best saberer I have ever seen.

Now some brief history. There are two families behind this label. One from Rilly-la-Montagne where they have been vignerons for 4 generations. Phillipe's grandfather had 16ha but through the wonder of French inheritance laws Phillipe now only has 3ha. the other family vineyard is based in Ecueil where Phillipe's father controlled the family domaine and he has another 5ha. Rilly is very desolate and not one of the more popular villages in the North. Not as sexy as Oger, Ambonnay or Cramant but still a lovely small village that, if Brugnon is proof, makes very compelling Champagnes. Most of what is planted in Rilly is Chardonnay and used in the blend for the vintage wine and the cuvee elegance being offered today. The rest is Chardonnay and a tiny bit of Meunier.

For the money these are about as exciting a Champagne I have ever come across.


     NV Phillipe Brugnon Brut 1er Cu "Cuvee Elegance" $36.99 ($131.96 4-pack)