NV Lucien Roguet No. 1 Tradition Grand Cru Champagne 750 ml

The village of Mailly is a hotbed of Champagne excellence, but the grapes here don’t often make it into wines from 100% family-owned, independent producers. Instead, they’re largely claimed by powerhouse co-ops or big-name houses like Moët & Chandon, Perrier-Jouët, and Taittinger.

That makes Lucien Roguet’s No. 1 Tradition our favorite kind of outlier: a finely textured and beautifully focused Grand Cru cuvée that comes entirely from the Mailly vineyards of its family-run estate.

Lucien Roguet owns seven hectares (17 acres) of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier on the north-facing side of the Montagne de Reims. The vines are rooted in Champagne’s famous thin, chalky soils, and they enjoy abundant sunlight that awakens ripe fruit flavors without overpowering the wine’s minerality or acidity.

Critics and connoisseurs have considered Mailly a top Champagne village for centuries. Pioneering wine writer André Jullien ranked it as one of six “First Class” villages in 1816, and then the Échelle des Crus (Ladder of Crus) classification labeled it a Grand Cru in 1919. It’s held that status without interruption ever since.

The Roguet family has owned land here for five generations—since the late 19th century—and they avoid using chemicals in their vineyards as much as possible. Their No. 1 Tradition receives at least two years of cellar aging and a dosage of eight grams per liter to round out the mouthfeel without adding excessive sweetness.

This wine shows the tension, liveliness, precision, and length that define Mailly’s best bottles. It’s an elegant Champagne that will pay dividends for several years to come.