David Pehu is the fourth generation of his family to make estate-bottled Champagne, and his house still holds old Veuve Pehu labels from the early 1900s. His grandfather sold under the Antonin Pehu name, and in the early 1970s his parents launched Pehu-Simonet, folding in vines from his mother's side of the family. David has been in production since 1988 and running the cellar solo since 1995. The estate today farms 7.5 hectares, 6 of them Grand Cru, worked with a low-intervention hand (the domaine went on to earn organic certification in 2021). Beyond his 3.5 hectares in Verzenay, he holds parcels in the Grand Crus of Verzy, Sillery, and Mailly on the Montagne de Reims, plus a small Chardonnay holding in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, in the Côte des Blancs – the source of this wine.

This is 100% Chardonnay drawn from plots across the chalky limestone of Le Mesnil, fermented in stainless steel. Pehu leans hard on freshness – from the trellising in the vineyard through the cellar – to keep the fruit's precision intact over the long haul. And the long haul is exactly what he pursues, with 84 months on the lees to build out even more complexity and character.

A whisper of dosage – just 1.5 grams per liter – puts the wine's purity front and center. It comes out of the gate packed with lemon cookies, shortbread dough, lime zest, and mandarin blossom. The palate is round and savory, with a light note of mushroom and fresh-turned earth resting over a deep core of apple, pear, and cantaloupe. It's clean throughout and taut on the long, smooth finish, singing clear and bright over an energetic mousse – a thoughtful, rock-solid Champagne top to bottom. There's no mistaking it is definitively Le Mesnil, and unmistakably David Pehu.

If you're wondering, this is my go-to, slightly geeky, mostly cool, ace-up-the-sleeve pour for showing off among wine-nerd friends. We’re running dangerously low, so don't delay!