NV De Saint-Gall Selection Brut Champagne 750 ml

You’ve never seen the name on a label, but if you’ve ever sipped a $150 tête du cuvée, chances are you’ve tasted the work of Union Champagne. 

The “super co-op” controls fully 50% of all the Grand Cru vineyards in Champagne’s prestigious Côte des Blancs. In other words, if there’s Chardonnay in your luxury Champagne, it’s a good bet that Union had a hand in it.

Until now, Union, an organization of smaller co-ops, has stayed out of the limelight, instead focusing on selling grapes and finished wines to the region’s grandes marques—and enjoying a well-earned prestige that often nets them 40% above what other growers and co-ops get for their product. Across Union’s astounding sites, 45% of their total acreage is Grand Cru, and almost all the rest is Premier Cru. Thankfully, Union has made a new commitment to their De Saint-Gall Champagne label.

Like many collectives of growers, they were farmers first, content to sell grapes and finished wines to the négociants of the region. Branding and marketing simply were things that they didn’t want to worry about, so expanding De Saint-Gall outside of a few select markets was never a priority.

Fortunately, that’s changed, which means that the reserve wines (going back to 2002) aren’t necessarily bound for the most famous bottlings of the region’s premier houses: Some are bound for De Saint-Gall.

That quality comes screaming through the glass, which explodes with aromas of lemon-scented pastries and white flowers, accented by a delicate minerality. The Selection Brut spends three years on the lees before disgorgement, leading to a creamy mousse and a long, elegant finish. For anyone who loves Champagne, it’s a singular experience.