“Champagne. In victory one deserves it, in defeat one needs it.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Appy Friday! We have found you should always keep Champagne on hand, for you never quite know what the future holds. Victories… Losses… this World Cup we have drunk our share!

But isn’t great Champagne expensive? NOT TODAY! Grower Champagne, a NV made like a Vintage, from one of Bollinger’s founding partners? For a mere $44?

Time to restock, because… that’s right, Renaudin’s most affordable cuvée is back!

This Operative favorite (looking at you Jeanna Sewell Boothe) is a blend of vintages, but predominately 2010, described by the importer as having a, “Characteristic silvery glint, with a nose is markedly expressive, while the palate is broad yet taut. This will be another long-distance runner.” With extended aging on lees similar to most Vintage Champagne, t’s essentially a vintage wine concealed as a non!

Finding great Grower Champagne is always a challenge. Finding one for OVER 30% OFF? One that struts like Krug or seduces like Vilmart? Today is the day we’ve accomplished the impossible. The implausible. The improbable.

How? Not long ago Agent Noir and family were in San Francisco and happened to pop into a favorite local wine store. Inexplicably, he was drawn to this super traditional-looking bottle of grower Champagne he wasn’t familiar with. But he knew the importer well. So, the following day he reached out to ask about it…

But let’s rewind the tape. EXACTLY by 300 years to 1724 when a French count founded the House of Renaudin. Later in 1829, patriarch Paul Renaudin partnered with Jacques Bollinger and an investor to form Renaudin-Bollinger, which later became Bollinger! One of the world’s top experts, Charles Curtis MW explains in his book Vintage Champagne, “The Renaudin family had (already) been active for generations, but Jacques Bollinger was an emigrant from Württemberg. He arrived in Champagne in 1822… Bollinger and Renaudin became friends and the three began to collaborate to produce the wine we know today as Bollinger.”

Fast-forward to today, Dominique Tellier-Renaudin and his family continue to bottle extraordinary Champagnes in the sleepy little hamlet of Moussy, in the heart of Vallée de la Marne. With holdings bordering the Côte des Blancs, Blanc de Blancs is their specialty style. That means 100% Chardonnay, with extended tirage, and low to zero dosage.

The result? Bubbles that are so complex they’re more fine wine than sparkling, yet with electrifying acidity and a rich, creamy mouthfeel… sensual wine that shocks and comforts your palate at the same time!

Grower Champagne this good from such a historic house for under $50 just does not exist.

Time to stock up!