NV Paul Launois Blanc de Blancs Monochrome #1 Grand Cru Brut Champagne 750 ml

Champagne Paul Launois has emerged as a rockstar hitmaker of the Côte des Blancs. One fresh take after another has quickly put them in league with their august neighbors, Krug and Salon, in the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.

Monochrome #1 is all epic Grand Cru Chardonnay grown on vines that share dew drops with Krug’s Clos du Mesnil lieu dit. It’s Champagne’s inner sanctum—one of the most celebrated patches of dirt in the world. But while the best from Salon and Krug go for north of a grand, this sparkling jewel comes at a cool $60. 

When we sold out our February offering of the Launois Composition #3 in a matter of hours, proprietors Julien and Sarah immediately offered us a follow-up—the incredibly rare allocation on offer today. They only made 400 cases, each bottle hand riddled by Julien. 

Monochrome #1 is a Blanc de Blancs with a very low 2 g/L dosage, yielding fresh citrus peel and a salty mineral backbone with just a kiss of white flower softness that rounds the palate’s firm edges. Decadent but always in control, it’s based on the Chardonnay-friendly 2017 vintage, with 17% reserve wines that have seen both oak and stainless steel aging. 

Everything that goes into this bottle was grown on the family’s 16 acres in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, famed for the intensely chalky soils that lend Monochrome its name. Even the labels for this wine were made in house, featuring Sarah’s playfully understated design. It doesn’t get any more authentic.

For an entry level price, our members have a nearly exclusive shot at one of the sexiest, classiest Grand Cru grower Champagnes on the market. No wonder the New York Times deemed Champagne Launois the gift to “give someone who has everything.”

The only drawback is this wine’s scarcity. The Launois family has made a big splash lately with some high-profile releases, and sales have shot through the roof. If our previous offer tells us anything, this lot will be gone tomorrow.

While the winery has quickly earned a reputation for bold, beautifully executed new ideas (including private single-barrel bottlings), they also have deep roots in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger traditions. The Launois family has been tending vines there for three generations, selling their best fruit to the top players for several decades and only bottling small amounts through the cooperative system. 

But in 2013, to our great pleasure, things changed. Julien and Sarah Launois took over the estate from Julien’s father Jean-Pierre. Steeped in their village’s traditions but spurred on by an era of innovation across the region, the couple struck out along their own path. They bought space from Billecart-Salmon, for production, and renamed Champagne Jean-Pierre Launois to Champagne Paul Launois, in honor of their son, Jean-Pierre’s grandson. Thus a new grower-producer was born in the heart of Champagne’s greatest terroir. 

Consider this your ground floor pass.