The Monmarthe family has been living in Ludes since 1737 and has owned agricultural lands and vineyards throughout the family’s recorded history. The Champagne house was founded in 1930 by Ernest Monmarthe, and the family has farmed this plot in Ludes ever since, fine-tuning their production and quality over the past six generations. Now, with Gauthier taking the lead on winemaking – this estate is beginning to draw attention here in the USA...a top-notch Grower Producer with a bright future to be certain!

This 95 point cuvee is named “Le Nid D'agace” or “The Magpies” in old French, for the crafty birds that reside in the trees surrounding the vineyards. This is a single vineyard, on a gentle slope a few hundred yards from the winery itself. It is a blend of 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay, with the chardonnay grown up top where the soil is predominantly clay, while the pinot noir grows below, where the soils have shifted to mostly chalk-based. The vineyard produced just enough for a meager 419 cases in 2016, and after six years on the lees, and a final dosage of 4 g/liter in January of 2023, a grand total of just twenty cases made it here to the USA. We snagged every last one...and now, it’s your turn!

The resulting wine is nicely layered and complex, with a vibrant and full mousse that incites aromas of rose petals and red currants, with flavors that follow in sensuous waves – red cherries, ripe Galaxy peaches, baked apples, creamy red D’Anjou pears, nutty toasted hazelnuts, all framed with a bright and tingly acidity carrying everything to a long and electric finish. The wine’s medium weight is all from its few months in barrel as a vin clair and the six years on the lees in bottle that followed, so no malolactic fermentation here, making this exceptionally age-worthy for those so inclined. I grabbed a handful for myself – with the hope that at least one bottle will survive to spring – but perhaps you have more discipline than me in that regard! Whatever your plans for the wine, you simply can’t go wrong...this absolutely delivers, especially at such an insanely reasonable price!