NV Eric Taillet Exclusiv'T Blanc de Meunier Brut Champagne 750 ml

Even by the standards of other wineries in Champagne, Eric Taillet’s production is TINY. He has barely 15 acres and sells a large portion of the grapes he grows—but he keeps the best plots for his highly in-demand wines. 

Since he’s a quality-obsessed fourth-generation winemaker with a long private-client list to show for it, most of what he makes heads home from the winery in car trunks. That’s why we’re thrilled to have scored an allocation of his Exclusiv’T Blanc de Meunier.

Featuring aromatic layers of lemon zest, peach, toasted hazelnut, and ginger, it’s an exceptionally elegant bottle that’s the perfect introduction to one of Champagne’s true hidden gems.

Taillet is an evangelist for the potential of the Vallée de la Marne, where his family’s vineyards lie. This is Meunier country, and he believes in the potential of the grape so much that he’s devoted his life to spreading its gospel. He has even started an organization called the Meunier Institute, which allows growers to show off the potential of 100% Meunier wines just like this one.

These bubbles are pure class. Taillet is one of the rare producers in Champagne to use native yeasts for his primary fermentations, a bold choice that builds more complexity.

He ages his base wines in a mixture of stainless-steel tanks and older oak barrels before bottling, when they’re blended with 30% reserve wine from a perpetual-blend system that goes all the way back to 2011. After disgorgement and a very light dosage, the result is an incisive bottle that’s as captivating as it is hard to find.