This is as classic as grower Champagne gets. Vilmart was founded as récoltant-manipulant (that is, a Grower) way back in 1890. The Grower Champagne movement feels like something new and fresh -- and it is. But it also has deep roots. And none goes deeper than Vilmart.

Of course, Vilmart isn't just an old Grower. It is a great one. They are based in the village of Rilly-la-Montagne, in the Montagne de Reims subregion, one of Champagne's most famous regions. This is a land of limestone slopes, some north-facing and some south, which gives the wines incredible lift and intense acidity, as well as power, fruit, and minerality. Vilmart's winemaking is old-fashioned and builds those terroir signatures into the gorgeous, classic Champagne symphony of minerality and lemony acidity, rich fruit and toasty brioche.

It takes many choices and lots of time to get there. The still wines are fermented and then aged in large oak, which helps to develop the depth and breadth we associate with famous Champagnes like Krug or Bollinger. But they stop the wine from going through malolactic fermentation, which would tone down the acidity by converting the appley, "malic" acid into a milder lactic acid. Then, after the second fermentation in bottle, they age the wine on the lees for more than 55 months. That's 4 1/2 years the wine is just sitting in the cold cellar, literally collecting dust, while the flavors integrate and mellow and the yeast breaks down, contributing that inimitable, toasty, briochey flavor. Then, finally, at disgorgement, they add a traditional brut dosage of 7 g/L: enough sugar to round out the flavors, balance the blazing acidity, and bring additional length to the flavors.

It's a wine that is easy to drink -- one glass will tempt you to drink a second (and maybe more from there). It's not a wine that will hit

you over the head with obscure flavors or hard to define textures. And yet, there's hardly a wine in the world with more going on, more of a sense of terroir. By the time the wine makes it to us we have so, so many layers of flavor: minerality, power and breadth from the sites; refinement and depth from the exposure to oxygen in the oak fermentation and aging; the evolution and integration of those flavors, and the contribution of the yeast from the aging en pointe; then, finally, the seasoning of dosage.

This is a thoroughbred, a work of true Champagne terroir and tradition, and we're very happy to be able to share it with you.