Champagne

The Collection 245 is based on 2020, which makes up 55% of this bottling. It also includes 35% of the ambitious perpetual blend that Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, Frédéric's cellarmaster adds to each year; in this blend it has 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 in it. The last 10% of the wine comes from back vintages in wood from the young vines on the Cristal estate. The champagne is meant to reflect the terroir of the whole region, and is a blend of 1/3 each of the Côte des Blancs, the Mountain of Reims and the Valley of the Marne. The final composition of the wine is 41% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 24% Meunier and the dosage is very low at just 7 grams per liter. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer)

Audrey Frick's notes on the producer for Jebdunnuck.com: Pol Roger is a sixth-generation family-owned business founded in 1849 that is solely focused on Champagne based in Epernay. Damien Cambres replaced former chef de cave Dominique Petit in 2018. Since 2011, they have fully moved to stainless steel fermentation and aging. They house 9.5 kilometers of cellars that are notably deep at 33 meters underground and employ four full-time riddlers to turn the bottles and carefully collect sediment from them (only 11 exist in the region today). A new building is under construction for disgorgement, packaging, and shipping that will be completed in 2023. The site rests on the footprint of the historical site of the original cellars, which disastrously collapsed in 1900, destroying 1.5 million bottles. In August of 2022, Christian de Billy passed away at the age of 93. He was the great grandson of Pol Roger and was instrumental in the creation and launch of several cuvées, including the Rosé in 1961, the Blanc de Blancs vintage cuvée in 1965, and the cuvée Sir Winston Churchill in 1984 with the 1975 vintage. They own 92 hectares today and produce approximately 1.7 million bottles annually. Pol Roger is a Pinot Noir-based house that focuses on the art of blending. The wines tend to strike a balance with refinement in the mousse without shying away from its power and structure across the range. (11/2022)

91 points Decanter: "Tasted in magnum, the nose offers yeasty bready aromas topped with fresh citrus, hints of stone fruit and strawberry tart. A palate of fresh croissants, red berries, green apple and lively lemon citrus, with the larger format lending lovely creaminess to the bright finish. Veuve Clicquot's iconic Yellow Label is a blend of 30% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier and 50% Pinot Noir, which provides the cuvée's signature structure. Up to 45% reserve wines in the blend ensure consistency. (JS)" (07/2024) 91 points James Suckling: "This has aromas of grapefruit, pomegranates, and biscuits. It’s honeyed and sleek with a medium body and supple bubbles. Soft and creamy finish. Majority pinot noir, with chardonnay and meunier. Around 40% reserve wines. 10g/l dosage." (02/2023) 90 points Wine Spectator: "This harmonious Champagne boasts a bright streak of tangerine peel–infused acidity, with flavors of ripe green apple, pastry cream and biscuit, plus accents of crystallized honey and candied ginger, all set on the lacy mousse. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. (AN)" (08/2024) Wine Enthusiast: "The familiar, best-selling Yellow Label Brut is as reliable as always. A white fruit and white flower aroma and a soft palate give an approachable Champagne. It is full of fruit, softened by the dosage. (RV)" (12/2024) Jeb Dunnuck: "Comprising 85% of production, the NV Champagne Yellow Label Brut is 40% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, and the rest Meunier, with 35-40% reserve wine. Entirely fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks, it spends three years on the lees, and the wine sees 9 grams per liter of dosage, but the house does not disclose the disgorgement date. A golden straw hue, it’s ripe with aromas of yeasty bread dough, peaches, and fresh flowers. Medium-bodied on the palate, it’s ripe and juicy with rounded red berried fruit, a supple texture, a pillowy mousse, and a warming finish. Fresh and inviting, this is a solid and consistent aperitif to enjoy over the coming several years. (AF)" (11/2023)

This is a very good price on an elegant Grand Marque. This cuvée is rich, clean, and refreshing. The wine has a lot of pretty green apple fruit, a creamy texture, and elegant, tiny bubbles. Their incredible commitment of reserves from past vintages gives the wine depth and complexity while maintaining the racy, zesty, and pure flavors that are synonymous with this Champagne. You can never go wrong with Billecart-Salmon for the aperitif!

92 points John Gilman: "The Franck Bonville “Unisson” Blanc de Blancs Brut is aged longer than their regular Blanc de Blancs bottling, so that the current release of this wine is from the base year of 2017 and includes nearly fifty percent reserve wines from the previous harvest. Olivier Bonville used fruit entirely from his vineyards in Avize for this bottling. The wine was disgorged in March of 2023 and finished with a dosage of 6.7 grams per liter. The wine offers up a beautifully refined bouquet of pear, golden delicious apple, brioche, hazelnut, chalky minerality, a touch of white lily and gentle smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with fine depth at the core, good soil undertow, elegant mousse and a long, well balanced and wide open finish. This is really drinking splendidly and is a fine bottle." (04/2024) 92 points Wine Advocate: "Franck Bonville’s NV Unisson Grand Cru is a Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay) derived from grapes planted in the village of Avize. Offering up aromas of pastry, vanilla, lemon oil and spices with hints of butter, it’s medium to full-bodied, round and supple, vinous and tense with a delicate, slightly bitter finish. Based on a blend of 2016 and 2017 vintages, it was disgorged with a dosage of 6.7 grams per liter in March 2023. (YC)" (11/2023) 92 points Vinous: "The NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Unisson is 100% Chardonnay from Avize and Oger, vintages 2018 and 2017. Readers will find a sensual, open-knit Blanc de Blancs that offers a good bit of immediacy and sheer allure. Gentle contours wrap around a core of citrus-tinged fruit intermingled with floral top notes. This is an especially soft, airy style for the Côte des Blancs, but it works well. Dosage is 5 grams per liter. Disgorged: June 2024. " (12/2025) 91 points The Wine Independent: "Unison is an Extra Brut Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs full of distinctive vinous energy. Based on the 2018 vintage, it is aged four years on lees and finished with five grams per liter dosage. Redolent of ripe citrus, Brazil nuts, starfruit, lemon zest, and nougat, the medium-bodied and spirited palate lights up quince, white grapefruit and mineral concentration with seamless acidity and a chalky finish. (SM)" (11/2023) 90 points Decanter: "The youthful and entry-level wines are currently the picks at Franck Bonville, a sizeable grower domaine based in Avize, showing more precision than some of the pricier offerings. Unisson, Chardonnay from Avize from 2017 and 2018, is pretty with peach, blossom and lemon oil, plumped up just a touch with nougat but with the emphasis on fruit and florals rather than richness. It's a clear, supple and immediate style. (TH)" (03/2024) Jancis Robinson: "A little richer than the Blanc de Blancs NV but meticulous, thanks to the pinpoint precision of the acidity. Baked apples and pears enveloped in cream and a frame stitched with liquorice thread, green cardamom and a hint of melba toast. Long, sweet-lime finish. Vibrant. Full of heart. (TC) 17/20 Points." (04/2024)

This Champagne comes from one plot of 70-year-old Chardonnay vines in the Montagne of Reims village of Trepail. It is aged for three years on the lees. The Champagne has a chalky, creamy, bread bakery-esque nose, and a concentrated impression on the palate. As one would expect from such ancient vines, it delivers the goods on the finish with plenty of chalk as well as a bit of honey and white fruit. This makes a perfect aperitif, but will also pair well with seafood such as seared scallops or even raw oysters. -- Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer

This entirely estate-grown Champagne comes mostly from the villages of Cuisles, Jonquery, and Olizy in the valley of the Ardre. This is the area where Aspasie is, as well as where Krug sources their favorite Meunier. This area is renowned for Meunier with excellent acidity and tension, and this shows through in the brightness and length of this Champagne. Some of the fruit also comes from Chantillon-sur-Marne, closer to the river. This is a blend of 80% Meunier and 20% Pinot Noir, half of which is from reserves from a perpetual blend started in 2003, like a solera. All the vinification is done in stainless steel and the wine goes through malolactic fermentation. It is aged for 24 months on the lees, which makes for a complete Champagne given the age and quantity of the reserve wines. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

This Champagne used to be called "Grande Cuvée" and is composed of 70% Pinot Noir from Verzenay and 30% Chardonnay from Mesnil, 80% fermented in stainless steel and 20% in old oak. The Champagne has a graceful, delicate balance that Verzenay wines sometimes lack but with the signature hazelnut Pinot core. I found it to have creaminess to complement its racy cherry fruit on the palate and an extraordinarily long, dry finish with the chalky minerality that only a little Mesnil can bring. - Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer

93 points Jeb Dunnuck: "The NV Champagne Special Cuvée (60% Pinot Noir and based on the 2021 harvest) pours a bright yellow/silver hue on opening and reveals a fresh and actually more mineral-driven profile on the nose than I was expecting, revealing layers of fresh raspberries, brioche, wet stone, and orange blossoms. The palate is medium to full-bodied and classically rounded, as you would come to expect from this house, but it retains good tension and a silky, chalky texture, with an ultra-fine mousse, salinity in its notes of grapefruit zest and almond, and a creamy texture through the finish. It’s very well-styled and is going to drink well over the next 10 years. They always try to have 8-10 vintages the blend, the oldest being 18 years (15 years when it goes into the bottle). 8 grams per liter dosage. (AF)" (12/2024) 93 points James Suckling: "A polished palate of fine bubbles with pears, light bread dough and caramel undertones. Medium-bodied with pretty toasted-oak and vanilla flavors. Refined finish. Touch of quince and grapefruit with dried apples. Base wine 2021 plus nine different vintages. A blend of 61% pinot noir, 25% chardonnay and 14% pinot meunier. Drink now." (07/2025) 93 points Wine Spectator: "A vibrant, graceful Champagne that shows fine definition and integration, with a mouthwatering frame of acidity. The persistent, lacy mousse is enmeshed with an appealing range of ripe and juicy black cherry and boysenberry fruit, blood orange granita, candied ginger and chopped almond flavors. Long and well-spiced on the chalky finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Drink now through 2035. (AN)" (11/2025) Jancis Robinson: "Bready and appley – upholds every tradition of champagne, including a good level of dosage that gives honeyed ripeness to the finish. Long, sweetly spiced finish, with yeastiness making it like a cinnamon bun. Delicious! (RH)" (02/2025)

This is one of the best Champagnes we carry, regardless of price. Made from the one-and-three-quarters-acre Belles Voyes vineyard in Oger, this is Bonville's top of the line Champagne. The vines were planted in the late '20s or early '30s and the vineyard is ideally located in the mid slope of this Grand Cru village. The wine is made entirely from the 2017 harvest and is all Chardonnay. Olivier Bonville ferments and ages the juice in old oak casks before bottling. The only wine I can compare it to is the Clos de Mesnil from Krug. It is the perfect Blanc de Blancs, rich and taut at once and any words that I use to describe it will not do it proper justice. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer)

This is the same wine that is found in the normal Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, but wrapped in a completely sustainable, insulated cardboard wrap that looks like the inside of the chalk cellars of Ruinart.

We have a great price on this very popular Champagne.

Made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes from a total of ten 100%-rated Grand Cru villages, this Champagne gets its glorious pink color and rounded red fruit flavors from a process known as "saigneé," in which the skins of the grapes are left in contact with the juice for three days. Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Rosé not only makes a delicious apéritif, but is also a good match for a variety of different dishes.

From Wine Advocate's William Kelley: "Today, the 2015 Champagne vintage enjoys a mixed reputation, largely because some wines show an herbal aromatic signature indicative of incomplete maturation resulting from hydric stress. But of course, it's hard to generalize about so large a region, whose diversity of terroirs is compounded by equally diverse agronomic approaches, and the success of Bollinger's 2015s is a case in point. Why have these wines turned out so well? The house's best terroirs are located on chalk, so their vines experienced less hydric stress. Bollinger's practice of vinifying small lots in barrel and blending comparatively late also permitted the elimination of any lots showing herbaceous characteristics that other houses would likely have blended during vinification. The result is a Grande Année derived from only 11 of the potential 20 communes that can inform the blend, with an emphasis on the Montagne de Reims in the blend to bring more cut. Harvest started on September 8, and the lack of water throughout the season and, particularly at "nouaison," the moment when the infant berries form, resulted in 30% less berry mass than an average year. Those small berries without much juice made pressing more challenging than usual, but they have delivered a wine framed by unusually high levels of dry extract that contributes real phenolic mid-palate weight that will delight readers who love vinous, sapid Champagnes that are built to age."

96 points Wine Spectator: "Vibrant and rich, statuesque yet graceful, this lovely Champagne offers an expansive range of patisserie apple and pear fruit, grilled macadamia nut, lime and tangerine peel notes, with fragrant saffron, clove, espresso and mineral accents. A lithe, focused spine of lemony acidity and an underlying streak of salinity are enmeshed in the flavor profile, and the fine, satinlike mousse carries everything on the long, mouthwatering finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier. Disgorged winter 2023–2024. Drink now through 2040. (AN)" (12/2025) 95 points Vinous: "Based on 2017, Krug's NV Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition is superb. It is an especially rich, almost opulent Grande Cuvée that very much reflects the personality of the base year in its tropical flavor profile. Lemon confit, baked apple tart, passion fruit, tangerine oil and spice are all beautifully amplified. The Krug team, led at the time by Chef de Caves Eric Lebel and current Chef de Caves Julie Cavil, did an exceptional job here. (AG)" (04/2025) 95 points Jeb Dunnuck: "The NV Champagne Grande Cuvee 173eme Edition is bright and mineral-driven, crafted around the 2017 vintage with 150 wines from 13 vintages back to 2001. It offers notes of wet stones, custard, lemon rind, honeycomb, white peach, and citrus blossom. Full-bodied, it has power and finesse, with mineral texture and a long-lasting finish. It has fantastic spice as well in this edition, and it has excellent underlying acidity and tension with a great savory finish. Olivier Krug commented on the warm weather of 2017, noting that they were keen to pick on the early side in this vintage and were finished with their harvest when many others had just begun. Disgorged in early 2024. (AF)" (09/2025) 94 points Wine Advocate: "Krug’s recently unveiled NV Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition—accounting for approximately 80% of the house’s total production—performs well, particularly considering the challenges of the base vintage, 2017. That year saw considerable rot pressure in red varieties, making meticulous sorting essential; some lots deemed unfit for Krug’s standards were even diverted to distillation. The conceptual cornerstone of the Grande Cuvée is the use of the house’s vast library—drawing from some 500 options—to complement the base vintage and moderate the extremes of any given growing season. The 173ème Édition comprises 150 wines across 13 vintages, with the 2017 base making up 69% of the final assemblage. Disgorged in January 2024 with a dosage of 4.5 grams per liter, it opens with aromas of pear, golden apple, lemon curd and early white blossoms interlaced with a distant hint of nutmeg. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, textural and charming, laden with tangy acidity and animated by a pillowy mousse, and it concludes with a long, saline finish. Compared with its immediate predecessor, the 173ème Édition is broader and more giving, while the 172ème Édition tauter and more incisive. As experienced Krug aficionados will recognize, the inclusion of reserve wines—which may have undergone malolactic fermentation—renders the Grande Cuvée more immediately approachable than the house’s vintage-dated Champagnes, offering a more generous drinking experience on release. (KK)" (07/2025)

Without a doubt, this is one of the best Champagnes we carry at any price. This is made from the Launois "mother vines" the massal selected old vines planted from 1947-1953 on the best mid-slope sites of their grand cru vineyards in Mesnil, Oger and Cramant. This replaces their special club bottling, and is sourced from exactly the same vineyards that used to make that blend. This shows off how well Chardonnay did in 2017 with laser like focus and a display of chalk that is hard to find in any other bottling, but at the same time remains creamy and generous. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

J. Lassalle works with 11 hectares of vineyards in Champagne, all of them of Premier Cru status. This non-vintage brut is grown in Chigny-les-Rose and composed of 60% Meunier, 20% Pinot Noir, and 20% Chardonnay.

The 2018 Billecart-Salmon 250th Anniversary Cuvée was released to mark two milestones at once: the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the 200th anniversary of the House of Billecart-Salmon. The U.S. has long been one of Billecart’s most important export markets, so this bottling was created as a commemorative release for that relationship, and the fact that 2018 was an exceptional vintage made the project even more fitting. The wine is made from 100% Grand Cru and Premier Cru fruit, with a blend of 65% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims and 35% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs. Just 3% of the cuvée was vinified in oak, with the balance aged in stainless steel, then the wine spent 63 months sur latte before being finished as an Extra Brut with 4.9 g/L dosage. In plain terms, this is a commemorative Champagne with serious credentials behind it: strong vintage, top-level vineyard sourcing, long lees aging, and a winemaking approach that keeps the focus on precision rather than excess.

I am incredibly excited about the extraordinary quality of this top grower's Champagne. The name might sound familiar, as they are cousins with the négociant Bruno Paillard. But their production is completely separate, and unlike Bruno, all estate-grown. And what an estate they have - 28 acres exclusively in the Montagne de Reims Grand Cru top village of Bouzy. There they exclusively cultivate their own selection of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay - they do not have a single clone on the estate. Although labeled as extra-brut, this is still a rich wine from ripe, south-facing parcels in the Grand Cru of Bouzy. This wine is composed of about 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay with about 1/3 reserve wines. This wine has such power and presence it deserves a great pairing like lobster, but also has the elegance to enjoy as an aperitif. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

This single-walled vineyard is the top of the line from Fallet-Dart. Although not labeled as a vintage, it is 100% 2006 and composed of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir that is barrel fermented. It is aged for over 15 years on the lees before release. The word "tirage" in French, which appears on the back label, means "bottling", and this all 2006 champagne was bottled in fall of 2007 and has spent an incredible 15 plus years on the lees. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer)

This 100% estate grown, Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs is made entirely with old Chardonnay selections from Mesnil, Cramant, and Oger. This is our number one most re-purchased Champagne, and it is often sold out! We have been working with Champagne Launois, located in the Grand Cru of Mesnil, for more than 16 years now, and they are our number one seller for good reason. Highly recommended.

95 points James Suckling: "Really fine bubbles. Extremely intense, showing dried apples, peaches and light apricots with brioche and pie crust. Medium-bodied with a creamy texture and a long, long finish. Very subtle. A blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier. 10% of the 2020 base wine fermented and aged in barrel. Dosage 8 g/L. " (07/2025) 92 points Wine Advocate: "Based on the 2019 vintage and enriched by 50% reserve wines—stored in steel tanks and incorporating some 100 individual wines, averaging a decade in age—Charles Heidsieck’s NV Brut Réserve opens with aromas of candied lemon peel, ripe pear and pineapple mingling with buttered toast and a hint of burnt sugar. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, charming and textural, with a sweet and fleshy fruit core, succulent yet vibrant acidity and a persistent, toasty finish. Disgorged in 2024 with a dosage of nine grams per liter, after nearly four years aging sur lattes, it represents another strong rendition of this reliable cuvée. (KK)" (09/2025) 92 points Vinous: "The NV Brut Réserve blends 40% each of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with 20% Pinot Meunier, containing up to 50% aged reserve wines. It spent four years on lees and opens with its characteristic smoky, sultry reduction. Redcurrant and lemon follow, leading to an ultra-clear, bright, vivid palate that is limpid with Chardonnay and structured with Pinot fruit, managing to be rich and rounded without a gram of fat. Supple autolysis appears as slightly peppery rye crumb, sitting well with this reductive style. Dosage is 9 grams per liter. (AK)" (12/2024) 92 points Decanter: "Even in the tricky 2017 vintage, Charles Heidsieck turns out an impeccable NV. The reserves form a serious, appetising core of dried apricot and sourdough around which zesty citrus, raspberry and bitter almond offer brightness and energy. Impressive detail and length. 40% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, 20% Meunier, based on the 2017 vintage with 50% reserve wines up to 20 years of age, with 9% barrel-fermented wines. (TH)" (10/2023) 92 points Jeb Dunnuck: "The 2019 base was disgorged in 2024, and the NV Champagne Reserve Brut, with the oldest wine in the blend, is around 20 years old, while the heart of the blend averages ten years of age. It pours a golden yellow color and offers a signature style with a frothy mousse, brioche, almond skin, apricot, and preserved citrus. Medium to full-bodied, it expands on the palate, with a rounded mouthfeel and a chalky richness of texture. (AF)" (12/2025) 92 points John Gilman: " This is the same iteration of Charles Heidsieck “Brut Réserve” that I reported on a year ago, with the wine hailing from the base year of 2016 and having been disgorged in 2020. It has opened up nicely since that time, with the bouquet now delivering scents of apple, peach, chalky soil tones, fresh-baked bread, just a touch of buttery oak and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, crisp and complex, with a good core, lovely soil undertow, zesty acids, refined mousse and fine length and grip on the well balanced finish. This bottling always includes forty percent reserve wines in the blend. Good juice. " (04/2025) 92 points Wine Enthusiast: "A vibrant Champagne with a white fruit aroma offers a touch of maturity and richness that is typical of the Charles Heidsieck style. Red apples, citrus and toast give the wine a fine balance. (RV)" (12/2024) 92 points Wine Spectator: "Hints of brioche and lemon meringue pie enrich the flavors of cassis and apricot fruit, pickled ginger, smoke and roasted hazelnut in this classy Champagne, backed by vibrant acidity. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. (AN)" (09/2025)

Don't let the name change fool you, this is the same great Champagne that used to be called "Carte Blanche". The Ariston Aspasie reserve is made of 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, and 30% Meunier. A balanced cuvée in every way, this Champagne is clean and powerful at once. It has a natural toasty quality from spending five full years on the lees, and plenty of refreshing zip from the far northern location of the vineyards. No bottle in our inventory transports me to Champagne like this one. It is as true to the terroir and as pure as anything I could wish for! You don't have to settle for sparkling wine when you can have great Champagne at this price! (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer)

What could be more civilized than treating your special someone (or yourself) to an aperitif of rosé Champagne? For good reason, the Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé defines the entire rosé Champagne category. Composed of 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Meunier, it gets its color and rosé flavor from 8% red wine. The red wine is almost exclusively sourced from Billecart’s home village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, from massal-selected Pinot Noir plots of 60–80 years old. These plots are picked at still red wine ripeness—12% potential alcohol—and then de-stemmed and cold macerated before fermentation. It is this red wine that makes the Billecart Rosé so special, and unfortunately also limits the supply. The finished product is the most elegant, restrained, dry, and delicate wine that one could drink. The complexity is there if you search for it, but the pleasure is easy to find!

Made by Olivier Bonville at Champagne Franck Bonville, this is flat out one of the greatest brut sans année offerings we have ever had at K&L. The Maison 76 is all chardonnay, purely from the grand cru of Avize in the center of the Côte des Blancs. Here the pure Belmnita chalk gives us wines that combine richness with freshness and minerality with attractive baguette toast. This wine is a full 60% reserves and dosed very low at just 5.8 grams per liter. It has been aged for three years on the lees. - Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer

The energetic, pure 2016 Cristal is produced exclusively from organically farmed, mid-slope, old vine plots in the best cru of Champagne. It is composed of 58% Pinot Noir and 42% Chardonnay, and 31% of the wine is made in wood. If you love purity, salinity, precision and length in your champagne, you could not do better! -Gary Westby, K&L

The Quartz comes from the famous Les Chétillons parcel in Le Mesnil sur Oger and has four atmospheres (59 psi) of pressure instead of the normal six (88 psi). While I would be hard pressed to tell by looking at or tasting this Champagne that it has lighter carbonation, it tastes very different from the Reserve due to the wonderful vineyard site. Since less yeast and sugar were added to the wine during bottling, it has less leesy flavor, and because there is less dissolved carbon dioxide in the wine the flavors of the grapes underneath shine more. Look for flavors of apple and brioche in this creamy, supple, mouthfilling Champagne. It is perfect for cocktail parties and as a starter for any event, and great to taste side by side with the Reserve. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer)

The only straight vintage rosé from the masters of the style, save for the first, the 2010. This wine is composed of 52% Chardonnay from the grand crus of Mesnil, Avize, Cramant and Chouilly and 48% Pinot Noir from Ambonnay, Mareuil, Verzenay, Ay and Verzy. The red wine comes from ancient vines in the Vallofroy vineyard just next to the Clos des Goisses in Mareuil. It has been aged for an incredible 100 months on the lees and dosed low at just 4.7g/1. With great black cherry Pinot Fruit married to deep chalky drive, and a style that is never imposing and always delicate, this is a great statement on just how great rosé champagne can be! -Gary Westby, K&L Founded in 1818 in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Billecart-Salmon remains one of Champagne’s notable family-run houses. Its reputation for rosé was built largely on the non-vintage Brut Rosé, which makes a declared-vintage rosé outside the Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon line an unusually specific look at the house style in a single harvest.

This is just the 37th release of the Comtes, the first being the 1952. It is entirely Grand Cru, and only from the Côte de Blancs, made from a selection of the best lots from Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Mesnil, and Oger. Only the cuvée is used, the first most gentle pressing, and the wine is fermented almost entirely in stainless steel, with just 5% going into oak. The wine is then aged for a minimum of 10 years on the lees and is only just now being released at 12 years old, enjoying a bit of time on the cork as well. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

The 172nd edition of Krug Grande Cuvée is a combination of 11 vintages, with 42% reserve wines. The youngest wine is from 2016 and the compisition is 44% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay and 20% Meunier. As usual with Krug, it is barrel fermented and then given at least seven years of ageing on the lees before release. -Gary Westby, K&L

The Launois "Oeil de Perdrix" Brut Champagne is a blanc de noir of Pinot Noir comes from the Chantmerle vineyard in the village of Sézanne proper and is fermented entirely in enamel lined steel tanks. The name means “partridges’ eye” and refers to the very short maceration the juice gets with the skins, giving it a blush that is more golden than pink. The bouquet reminds me of a great panettone; not only does it have buttery bread aromas, but also dried red fruits and roasted nuts. In the mouth it is round and trop facile à boire, too easy to drink but the finish is dry and long. This is a great champagne on its own but will also go very well with salmon! -Gary Westby, K&L

Our best deal in pink bubbles! Fans of Billecart-Salmon take note: this is an elegant, dry style that is made entirely from estate-grown fruit in Brouillet. This Champagne is a blend of half and half Pinot Noir and Meunier. The color comes from 12% Meunier that is vinified red, from an old-vine plot that gets quite ripe. It is a very pretty tarnished pink color and has a lazy bead from over five years of aging on the lees. It has gorgeous red cherry fruit on the nose and mid-palate, but still finishes snappy and dry. The wine also has a nice mineral note on the finish, and I can't help thinking about all the fossils that I filled my pockets with in their vineyard while enjoying its long finish. Now with the Aspasie label. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

98 points Vinous: "The 2017 Dom Pérignon is just as stunning as it was last year, if not more so. What a wine! Lemon confit, marzipan, white flowers and chalk soar out of the glass. The 2017 is like a slightly more refined version of the 2002, another year in which the Chardonnays were quite opulent. In 2017, Chardonnay accounts for 61% of the blend, very high for Dom Pérignon. Over the last year, the 2017 has gained mid-palate creaminess and has just come together beautifully. Sadly, production is tiny, so much so that the 2017 is expected to be in the market for just a few months before the maison transitions to the 2018. (AG)" (05/2026) 96 points James Suckling: "Dense and layered with dried apples and pears as well as candied lemons, grilled lemons and lemon meringue. It's full-bodied, rich, tangy and flavorful. March 2026 release. Tiny production. Smallest ever for Dom Pérignon. A blend of 61% chardonnay and 39% pinot noir. Dosage 4.5 g/L. Drink now." (07/2025) 95 points Wine Advocate: "Of the two releases—the 2017 and the 2018—the 2017 Dom Pérignon is the deeper and more structurally endowed wine, unfurling from the glass with a complex bouquet of orange peel, dried apricot and burnt buttered toast, mingling with nuances of dried flowers, toasted hazelnut and cacao bean, all strongly singed with the house’s signature smoky reduction. On the palate, it is full-bodied and concentrated, with a rich core of fruit. Its darker, open-knit profile is animated by a pillowy mousse, vibrant acidity and attractively bitter, structuring phenolics that assert themselves on a long, resonant finish. (KK) 95+" (12/2025) 94 points Wine Spectator: "A vivid Champagne, offering a finely detailed mousse, with a toasty overtone to the flavors of crushed white raspberry and white cherry fruit, grapefruit pith, toast point and oyster shell, all defined by chiseled, lemony acidity. A fine example from a challenging vintage. Drink now through 2037. (AN)" (12/2025)

The Veuve Clemence gets four years of aging on the lees to the Reserve's three, and comes from older vineyards. They are both entirely estate-grown, Grand Cru Chardonnay. Before now, this cuvée was only available for the French market, but because of our great relationship with Launois, we were able to convince them to sell us a little. If you like it, don't hesitate - they may not have more for us the next time I order. While the wine certainly has mid-palate power, it is a dry, serious Champagne that loves to be paired with shellfish and is a wonder with sushi. Those of you who love a bracing aperitif will also enjoy it by itself. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

This spectacular Champagne is one of the most sought after in France, and Launois' cult status made it very difficult for us to make a purchase. We lucked out, and now we buy it directly, nabbing a top-quality value. This house is from Mesnil, the southernmost Grand Cru in Champagne and home to both Salon and Krug's Clos de Mesnil. This Champagne is 100% Chardonnay and all Grand Cru from the villages of Mesnil, Oger, Cramant and Avize - a roll call of the finest crus for Chardonnay in all of Champagne. Additionally, all the vineyards are Veritas-certified for sustainable agriculture. The wine is aged for more than three years on the lees after an all-iron vat vinification. The aromatics of this Champagne are like polished white Burgundy with a touch of pine nut and minerals. The flavors are broad and rich. This is serious wine, with small bubbles and a refreshing finish. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

This great bottle comes from the far northern edge of Champagne in the Massif St-Thierry, north of Reims. All of the vines for this 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Meunier cuvée come from Cormincy, the last village in Champagne before the flats facing out towards the Ardennes. As one would expect from a Blanc de Noir, this is a full-bodied wine with plenty of savory red fruit flavor. Due to its far northern provenance, this Champagne also has great snap and refreshment to balance out its power. - Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer

All Champagne producers should be judged on their entry-level wine, and Olivier's is as good as they get. This is always the fastest non-vintage Champagne to sell out—so get it while we have it! The nose is effusive, with baguette, white flowers, and a nice salinity, while the flavors have a fine balance of white fruit, cream, and precise Avize chalk. Don't miss this. The Underground Wine Letter also rates this wine Outstanding Plus: "This is a terrific Champagne with great balance, flavor, and style, and it is a real value. Pale yellow in color, the wine has a lovely perfume with hints of peach and citrus and faint floral nuances accented by a kiss of vanilla. Creamy and very flavorful, this is a Champagne that is very harmonious showing subtle hints of peach, citrus, and spice. Elegant and long on the finish this is gorgeous to drink now or keep for many years."

Bid on this 3-bottle lot of 1985 Moët & Chandon "Cuvée Dom Pérignon Oenothèque" Brut Champagne (OWC - 97VN, 94RP, 90WS) in original wood. Vinous: "I would not have thought it possible, but the 1985 Dom Pérignon Oenothèque Rosé (magnum) is even more striking than the original release. Here the extended time on the cork and magnum format seem to confer an extra degree of crystalline purity and nuance. There is plenty of depth and power, but accompanied by a sense of weightlessness that is impossible to miss. When all is said and done, the two 1985s aren’t that different from each other. Disgorged 2008. (AG)" (05/2015)

Bid on this bottle of 1998 Krug Brut Champagne (98W&S, 98WS, 96WE, 95JG, 94VN). Wine Spectator: "This harmonious Champagne offers luxurious texture and powerful, focused acidity, showing aromatic accents of spring blossom, crushed thyme and chai, with rich notes of lemon meringue, hazelnut, black currant and fresh porcini mushroom. The full package. Impressive. *Collectible* (AN)" (12/2012)

Bid on this bottle of Jacques Selosse Brut Rosé Champagne (98JD). Jeb Dunnuck: "The release of the NV Champagne Brut Rosé was disgorged in May of 2021, with the base of Chardonnay coming from Avize and the Pinot Noir from Ambonnay. The nose is expressive, offering elegant layers of incense that evolve in the glass, and it t is fresh with apricot, honeycomb, wet stone, dried raspberry, and pristine red flowers. The palate is striking in its pure chalky texture without feeling austere and is impeccably balanced with a long savory finish. It captures the energy of a fresh grape just picked off the vine and is full of pleasure. It is hands down one of the top rosé Champagnes produced today. Drink 2023-2038.(AF)" (11/2022)

This vintage wine from Launois comes from older vines in the mid-slope portions of their estate in Mesnil and Cramant Grand Cru. Only massal-selected Chardonnay vines are used in this blend. The 2018 vintage was a ripe and powerful one in Champagne, and this wine not only has the bready richness upfront, but also fantastic minerality on the long, dry finish. -Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer

This bottling used to be called simply "Extra Brut." This is 100% Pinot Noir from Verzenay, the northernmost of all the Grand Crus in this northernmost of French wine regions. The whole village faces north, the wrong way, away from the sun, and yet miraculously ripens Pinot Noir, the most difficult Champagne variety to ripen perfectly. Some say it's because of a meteor that in prehistoric times hit the area that is now the village, creating the Faux de Verzenay, a forest where the trees bend and fold in on themselves like a dark wood in The Lord of the Rings. Pair this wine as an apéritif with a smoked salmon appetizer, or even with sashimi. -- Gary Westby, K&L

This wine is the same Launois Rosé that we have carried before, but now it is renamed after the eighth generation, Valentine Launois. This is an unusual offering from Launois, as everything else that we have ever carried from them is all Chardonnay, and this is 100% Pinot Noir. The grapes are harvested from their estate in the Sézanne, a chalky piece of Champagne isolated from the rest by miles of cow grazing land. It is full bodied and loaded with fruit, and perfect for pairing for the bounty of an Indian food dinner. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

The base for this incredible prestige cru rosé is entirely grand cru Chardonnay Mesnil and Cramant with just under 10% of red wine added from Pinot Noir plots that the Launois family owns in the Sézanne. It is done in a super elagant style, with light color and just a hint of perfect strawberry fruit coming through the foundation of white flowers and toasty baguette on the nose. In the mouth it is mineral, fresh, and airy, with a swell of Pinot cherry and a wave of impressive chalk on the back end. -Gary Westby

This replacement for the Laurent-Perrier Brut was created after the house acquired new vineyards and contracts in the Côtes de Blancs, allowing for a bump up in the composition favoring Chardonnay, and an extra year of aging on the lees. This is a big step up from the regular Brut! (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer)

95 points Vinous: "The 2008 Brut Blanc de Blancs, picked in the Côte des Blancs, underwent full malolactic fermentation and spent over ten years on lees. Lemon and wet chalk are distinct yet subtle on the nose, with their salty, bright, precise trail continuing onto the palate, where deeper saltiness reigns. This wine manages to be rich, smooth and sinuously slender and linear at the same time, with deep, delicious, umami-resonant savoriness. It is a wonderful wine of great elegance, with superb freshness and youthfulness. Lovely now, with nuance and even an overtone of licorice, but certain to evolve. Dosage is 3 grams per liter. (AK)" (12/2024) 91 points James Suckling: "Plenty of brioche on the nose with some candied walnut, honey and baked apple. It’s soft, ripe and mellow with medium to full body and laid-back bubbles. Gentle finish." (07/2024)

A revolution in machine-blown ultralight glasses!!! Nearly as thin as mouth blown, but possible to put in the dishwasher - if you are careful! -Gary Westby, K&L Champagne Buyer

Possibly the greatest Champagne glass ever! Our Champagne buyer, Gary Westby, came back from the region raving about this glass, and for good reason. It's perfectly shaped, with a fantastic feel and a great price. This is the most exciting new piece of glassware that we have found at K&L in many years, and the very best way to enjoy Champagne. Philippe Jamesse is the Sommelier at Château Les Crayères in Reims, the luxury destination for the Champagne region. He's tasted more great Champagne thoughtfully than almost anyone in the world, and partnered with Reims glassware manufacturer Gerhard Lehmann to produce one of the best Champagne glasses ever made. The tulip shape of this glass allows for a very pretty stream of bubbles to develop from the bottom of the glass, while the generous 450ml size allows room for the aromas to develop. Traditional flutes, on the other hand, are too narrow at the top for one to smell the aromas, while pouring the wine in a limiting narrow stream across the tongue. Regular wine glasses make Champagne look flat. The Jamesse gets it just right! 450ml mouth-blown non-lead crystal; Ships in case quantities of six only