The Côte des Bar is home to a new wave of avant-garde grower producers who are raising the bar of what it means to be Champagne, and yet, while Fluteau can stand proudly as a peer – it is nevertheless important to recognize that the region would scarcely have any grower producers at all if not for the pioneering efforts of the region's early houses like Fluteau. This area wasn’t even considered as part of the Champagne before 1927, thanks to the 1911 classification. When the great houses of Reims at long last acquiesced to include the region, they ensured that neither Grand Cru nor Premier Cru status was granted to the vineyards and villages of the Côte des Bar. They felt that it was a place only to secretly source fruit from and that no great wine could be actually produced there. Boy, were they wrong.

For four generations, the Fluteau family has crafted wines from their own estate vineyards, in their original winery. Neither rigid to traditional methods nor endlessly seeking the newest fads – these under-the-radar wines have struck an impeccable balance… a melding of time-honored techniques with the integration of the newest technological advances in an effort to make this spectacular portfolio of small production cuvees. 

This remarkable bubbly is based on the 2018 harvest, with 50% of the estate’s solera-style reserves rounding out the blend. The fruit is all from a sloping parcel known as Les Evallons – where 60-year-old vines of pinot noir grow on the region’s famous Kimmeridgian soils. Bright and complex aromas of Meyer lemon, fresh hay, and golden apples mingle with a salty sea spray minerality, plus plums and pluots, with grassy herbs – like pineapple sage and lemon verbena, and a final kiss of fruity sweetness that evokes golden raspberries. Yes, you get all of this – the amount of complexity usually reserved for 750s and magnums – in a mini size – more accurately, a half bottle! Only 4 grams dosage keeps this percolating and fresh, and perfect for a bite of food. I’d humbly suggest some vibrant and soulful bouillabaisse! This is something you’re going to want to buy, at least, six of – then you get free shipping! And, with the holiday season being so near, they make the perfect gifts, too.  You want this. Trust me. I love it and you will too!