Incredible Small Production, Single Vineyard Vintage Champagne Under $50 - at the Beginning of Its Drinking Window

There is nothing like killer Blanc de Blancs. Next to Chablis this might be my favorite iteration of Chardonnay. But that is like picking your favorite child. It's impossible. It has such intense minerality

along with a luxurious mouth-filling quality and that tell-tale yeasty minerality. Plus a wonderful salinity and a profound nuttiness with age. And I have a great one today.

This is vintage as well and harvested from a single parcel.  Does this matter in Champagne?  I think so even though we have been trained by the big houses to think that it doesn't.  Single vineyard wines, in my opinion have more character and are much more distinctive (if we accept this in Burgundy, why not in Champagne?)  In the hands of a great winemaker, these wines can be very special.

Yann Alexandre is running out of the 2008 Yann Alexandre Brut Blanc de Blancs which I have for as little as $44.99 a 3-pack.  I have to sell it now or we'll miss out and I don't want that to happen. It is an incredibly vinous Champagne and acts more like a Puligny-Montrachet with bubbles more than anything else. It is partially fermented in oak and that adds a richness and body to it that even adds more complexity to the already fantastic base material. It is wonderfully elegant, precise and balanced as well from the very underrated 2008 vintage in Champagne which cuts through the richness from the barrel aging and body of Chardonnay.  The soils are mostly calcareous which is typical for most of champagne which means it is high in chalk and/or limestone. Also has that hazelnut/iodine thing that I find so appealing Puligny and this wine.

Yann Alexandre is a small domaine of 6 hectares in the North in the small village of Courmas in the area of the Montagne-de-Reims. They have been producing wine since the mid 18th century which is about 9 generations. The wines are just what I like in Champagne. Lively, fruity, very precise, a tad unconventional and of course offering incredible value for the money.  They, like many other winemakers in the region, respect the land but don't go overboard and use the the lutte raisonnée method, which means "the reasoned struggle." This is a way of saying that producers who use this "reasoned struggle" are much less aggressive in their usage of chemical and pesticide treatments, but at the end of the day they will use it as they are running a business and need to harvest grapes to make wine.

They were very passionate in explaining that these are wines of terroir as some Champagne can be blends of so many parcels and vintages that eventually the terroir gets lost in translation. Not here.  Each parcel is vinified separately. They are aged in their cool cellar for 5 years before release. The malo, partial malo or no malo is decided on a vintage by vintage basis. The wines are all fermented in oak barrels so there is body to these Champagnes. But not huge body and they retain wonderful elegance and finesse. This is a house that has very small production of only 30,000 bottles a year split up with multiple cuvees.

In the early 18th and 19th century Ponce Alexannder sold grape musts to the Grande Maison de Champagnne, which is how this estate got started. The first wine-maker, Louis-Marie, made clear wine but continued to sell wines to the powerful merchants of Champagne. In 1933 Gaston Marcel decided to bottle their own Champagnes and market under their own name. They became NM's in that they still sold to traders and merchants but it was greatly reduced. In 1966 Yves joined his father Marcel and advanced the operation more. He extended the vineyards, cellar and bought a new more modern press. Today, Yann carries on that tradition and has continued to make tweaks that include using extensive cover crop in between the vineyard rows.

Champagne is a very provincial region and the difference between producers in the North and producers in the South are striking. Oger, Mesnil and Cramant are names that give Champagne enthusiasts shivers. You also have all the Grand Marques up north like Pommier, Moet & Chandon and the ilk. In between all the big houses you have hundreds if not thousands of small little houses that have become increasingly popular over the past 15 years. The South is more grassy and hilly with valleys and forests and the attitude is a touch more laid back. Yann Alexandre has the southern laid-back attitude in a northern area. And, oh the quality and style are exactly what you, me and everyone else is looking for.

2008 Yann Alexander Blanc de Blancs - $47.99 ($134.97 3-pack)