Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature Clos Sainte Sophie 2019 core-no-restrictions well-drained ancient seabed — within

well-drained ancient seabed — within a few miles of the Pacific

Goes down easy

has been in that camp from the start

the finish stony and unbuffered and still gaining as you swallow

The second wine of Château Cantemerle — the traditionalist Fifth Growth on the Margaux border whose grand vin is one of the only Grand Cru Classés that can honestly be called old-school Bordeaux

Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature Clos Sainte Sophie 2019 core-no-restrictions well-drained ancient seabed — withinA walled clos in Champagne is rare enough; this one is the only one in the Aube, cut into the chalk hill of Montgueux outside Troyes. Emmanuel Lassaigne farms the roughly two acre Clos Sainte Sophie a parcel the Valton family held for about a century, and whose fruit Charles Heidsieck once bought for its top blends and bottles it on its own as a vintage dated Blanc de Blancs from vines past 40 years old. It ferments in used barrels, Cognac casks among