Alexandra Sainz grew up helping her mother handpick the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes and going with her father to delicately press the fruit to create the loveliest depictions of Champagne you can imagine. Her fond memories, along with a deeply entrenched family history of growing grapes in Bouzy, led her to not only pursue a viticulture and oenological degree, but also to launch her own winery in 2021. With that, Champagne Alexandra Sainz was born!

Alexandra’s Millésime 2013 comes from sites all in the Grand Cru village of Bouzy – from quintessentially chalky soils with south and southeast exposure and up to 15% slopes. The 29-year-old vines tell a story unique to the area – and 2013 was an intense chapter in their book, with snow through the winter, a cool and late spring, and a violently stormy June, all vindicated by a dramatically warm summer leading to a late harvest and the depth of flavors that develops with a long hang time. While the season was unpredictable, the outcome has been nothing short of majestic, with some of the most expressive, elegant, and fresh Champagnes in recent decades. 

This wine aged on the lees for an impressive 9 years, an anomaly when you consider it’s priced only at $59. For reference, some of the most famous examples of around 10 years of lees aging are Bollinger Grand Annee ($150+) and Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle ($250+). This is just as bright and exceptionally made, for a stunning fraction of those guys! The long lees time protects the wine from oxidation, preserving the fresh fruit notes while also picking up some delightful lees aromatics like brioche and salty parmesan rind. That yeasty perfume gives way to rounded notes of bruised yellow apples, baked pears, and chalky earth percolating from the glass, followed by intensely crisp flavors of bright citrus fruits, green apple, white truffle oil, baking spices, hazelnut, fresh whipped cream, and a woodsy sensation that’s all at once warming and edged with minerality. With only 2,667 bottles ever produced, only a handful still exist anywhere in the world, and we have but a few cases in our trusty warehouse just waiting to make their way to your door. This is an entirely captivating, devastatingly limited showing from a small family grower that we are certainly impressed with, and know you will be too!