A champagne that should be on your radar far beyond the holidays, from €26.50, $39.99, £47.95. Above, Clément Préaux surveys his vines in the village of Hautvillers.
You know that ridiculous head-over-heels-in-love feeling that makes it hard to focus on anything but whatever you’ve fallen in love with?
I’ve experienced that with wine. But in terms of specific wines, my motto has always been to never drink the same thing twice.
That is, until last week.
I walked into my neighbourhood wine shop and, as I perused the shelves, I became aware of an impromptu tasting going on at the checkout counter behind me. A group of collectors had come in with wines from their cellars and were sharing them with the shop owners. I turned halfway and, pretending to examine a display of wines, furtively glanced over at the selection – 1995 Henri Gouges, Les Vaucrains; 1999 Clape Cornas; a couple of 2010 bordeaux; a 2010 Barolo from Vietti …
When I checked out a few minutes later, one of the shop owners slid me a glass of champagne and sidled back over to the group. As I went about tapping my card and signing, a wave of fragrant brioche, salted butterscotch, ripe peach, red plum and marzipan billowed from the glass. The fact that the wine contained a heap of reserve wine was not in question – yet it was still light and lithe on the palate, with persistent teeny tiny bubbles. I wondered who among the group I needed to thank for digging into their cellar.
Twenty minutes, four gorgeous wines and six new friends later, I discovered that the champagne I’d been poured hadn’t been in anyone’s cellar. It was the entry-level offering from a small grower-producer I’d never heard of – Louis Nicaise – and it was on the shop shelf for $51. Even among all the rare old bottles, it shone.
A few days later I saw Nicaise Extra Brut 2016 on the list at one of my favourite wine bars. It was, somehow, even better. My friends’ conversation faded to a dull roar as I stared at my wineglass contemplating if maybe, like a vinous Rumpelstiltskin, whoever made this could actually spin sunlight into wine. Who was it? And why had I never heard of the producer before?
The answer to the first question is that Clément Préaux and Laure Nicaise-Préaux (pictured above) made this wine. And, while I don’t have a definitive answer to the second question, I have to assume that the couple has massively improved the wine quality and deliberately started expanding exports … because, with a history spanning four generations, the only other option is that the media has done a masterful job of keeping this to themselves.
Clément Préaux previously worked under champagne producer Anselme Selosse. Laure Nicaise-Préaux learned the trade from her family. When the two began working the estate in 2008 they transitioned the vineyards to organic practices (uncertified), lowered yields, pushed grape maturity further, upped the time their wines spent on lees, lowered dosage levels and began putting more emphasis on reserve wines. They completed the generational takeover in 2014, assuming full responsibility for the estate.
The estate itself consists of 9 ha (22 acres) spread across 72 parcels in the premier cru village of Hautvillers in the Vallée de la Marne. It is planted to equal parts Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the average vine age about 35 years.
For the Premier Cru Brut Réserve NV – the wine I thought must have come from someone’s cellar – the blend is 40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 30% Pinot Meunier. Grapes were pressed gently and fermented in 15% neutral French oak, 85% stainless steel. After fermentation the wines remained on their lees in barrel and tank for a minimum of seven months. 70% of the blend underwent malolactic conversion, softening the acidity and giving the wine a fuller, more rounded texture. Before bottling, the wine was blended with 55% reserve wines. The wine then underwent a second fermentation and spent 20 months on the lees in bottle. The particular bottle I had was based on the 2020 vintage and disgorged 14 December 2023 – but Clément does 10 disgorgements a year so the bottle you pick up may have been disgorged on a different date. It was dosed at 6.5 g/l of sugar, corked and allowed to rest six months before release. I cannot overstate how well balanced it is.
The 2016 Extra Brut is a blend of 55% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 15% Pinot Meunier fermented in 20% neutral French oak barrels and 80% stainless steel. The base wine was kept on lees for seven months during which 50% of the blend was allowed to undergo malolactic conversion. The wine then spent 78 months sur lattes. I am afraid I was so absorbed by the wine, conversation and the ambiance of the wine bar that I did not grab the disgorgement date or dosage.
The Premier Cru Brut Réserve NV is carried by half a dozen stockists in the UK but only The Sampler is on Wine-Searcher. You can also find it at Bedford St Wines in Covent Garden, Buchanan’s Cheesemongers in Marble Arch, Nobody Asked Me in Homerton, Sandy’s Fishmongers in Twickenham, Monmouth St Wines in Seven Dials and DrinksOne online. Wine-Searcher lists 27 stockists for the US with prices starting at $39.99 at Coaltrain Wine & Liquor in Colorado, though I bought my bottle at Liner & Elsen in Oregon for $51. The wine is also available in France, Japan, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Belgium and Spain.
The 2016 Extra Brut Millésime is listed by Medium Plus in Washington State for $65 on Wine-Searcher. I happen to know that it is also carried by Sec Wines for $59.99 (they will ship within the US) as well as by Providore Fine Foods in Portland (they will not ship). If you see it, grab a bottle!
Wishing you a full glass for your festive season!
Find the Louis Nicaise Réserve Brut Premier Cru NV Champagne
Find the Louis Nicaise Extra Brut Premier Cru 2016 Champagne
For more sparkling-wine suggestions, see Fizz for the 2024 festive season. Members also have access to our tasting notes database, which holds reviews of nearly 11,000 sparkling wines.