NV Champagne Jean Diot Brut Selection 750 ml

Exclusive Bargain Grower Champagne

It was the 2007 World’s Best Sommelier, Andreas Larsson, that first brought our attention to this creamy, value-driven Champagne. He is, it must be said, a good-looking, well put together guy. In addition to winning just about every sommelier competition there is, he bears a slight resemblance to Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s hard to argue with his charms, and impossible to do so with his vast experience. The truth, though, is that it’s not his looks or his savoir-faire that we’re concerned with here. We’ve learned to trust in his world-class palate and, in this instance, his estimation of the Jean Diot Brut Champagne caught our attention.

After a blind tasting, Larsson was riding high on the Jean Diot’s “balanced creaminess and good length,” noting that everything about it is in “good harmony.” Having been the world’s best somm, Larsson was no doubt aware of Jean Diot’s 300-year history in Épernay, its family-run ethos, and the incredible value offered in every bottle. 

After more than three centuries of his family farming picture-perfect vineyards on the southern slopes of Épernay and the Marne Valley, Jean Diot became the first of his tribe to bottle grapes under the family name in 1958. Today, Diot is survived by descendants Jean-Philippe and Pascaline, who carry on the family tradition of producing elegant grower Champagnes.

For Jean-Philippe and Pascaline’s Brut Selection, three-quarters of the multi-vintage blend of 40% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Meunier and 20% Pinot Noir hails from their immaculately farmed vineyards in the Coteaux Sud village of Épernay—the rest of the blend made up from the estate’s rich reserve wines. The result is a dazzling, consistent Champagne that is beautifully bright and fleshy, with a terrifically creamy mousse, bursting with yellow pear, white raspberry, acacia blossom, pain grille, brioche, and hazelnut.