2015 M. Brugnon Millesime Brut Champagne 750 ml

Our members can’t get enough M. Brugnon Champagne: It’s one of our top- and we sell TWICE as much Brugnon as we do the all-time-favorite bubbly, Billecart-Salmon.

This is undoubtedly one of the jewels of the Brugnon collection. A back-vintage bottle from one of the top Champagne seasons in the past decade, it’s a vivid reminder of why the likes of Krug have been scooping up Brugnon’s grapes for decades—and its regularly among our absolute top-rated Champagnes by our members.

On our last buying trip to France, we swung through Champagne to drop in on Alain and Valerie and taste their new 2015 vintage Champagne, which we’d been anticipating since selling out of their previous release. The wine blew us away with its taut balance between its breadth of palate and tense, mineral-driven core.

Even after years of excellence, this micro-production millésimé shows how relentless fourth-generation vintner Alain is in continuously perfecting his craft. Comprising 65% Chardonnay from Rilly-La-Montagne and 35% Pinot Noir from Écueil—both Premier Cru Champagne villages—it shows a grand character reminiscent of the $120+ prestige cuvées from the all-star houses that Brugnon supplies. 

From the warm 2015 vintage that Wine Spectator rated 94–97 points and said “yielded clean, ripe fruit…with rich, intense wines,” the Millésimé has been evolving in Brugnon’s cool cellars for over six years, developing an earthen complexity and mineral depth. It’s aromatically stunning, with a mélange of Asian pear, red apple, brioche, yellow flowers, and a touch of mushroom. The extended aging really comes through on the palate, with an incredibly fine mousse and flavors of apple and pear that echo the nose, rounded out by toasted hazelnut, chalk, and hints of earth.