NV Veuve A. Devaux Cuvee D Brut Champagne 750 ml

Taste this Champagne alongside standard-bearers like Krug, Dom Périgon, and Piper-Heidsieck Rare and, if you’re anything like us, you’ll be delightfully shocked how hard it is to pick a favorite. Shocked because Devaux’s Cuvée D costs a quarter of the standard price and delivers every bit of the richness and depth a Champagne fan could dream up. 

This handmade sparkler comes from the area Wine Folly called “the hottest Champagne region right now,” a growing area in Aube known as Côte des Bar that sits closer to Chablis than to Reims. In fact, it shares the same Kimmeridgian limestone and clay soils as Chablis, lending the wines an incredible mineral quality while simultaneously delivering a rounded, brioche-scented Champagne à la the classics. 

Decanter has twice recently given this bottling a 97-point score, putting it in the top 1% of all Champagnes. 

That quality starts in Devaux’s vine selection. They work only with growers who sign on to their region-leading “D selection” quality standards, which go well beyond Champagne’s already high bar. And in the Cuvée D—55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay—they only used the first pressing of the grapes, a gentler approach that leads to a finer acidity and deeper complexity in the glass. It dances from citrus to orchard fruit and flirts with baking spices over the deep, fresh-baked pastry aromas. The mousse is vivid and energetic.

Poured at Michelin-three-star restaurants such as Gordon Ramsay's namesake eatery in London and Anne-Sophie Pic's Maison Pic in Valence, Cuvée D is one of the only five-year-aged Champagnes of such impressive complexity that can boast a price tag you’d find on an entry-level bottle. 

For Wine Access members it starts at a fantastic price. That bottle of Dom, while lovely, will run you around $200. 

The comparisons roll on between Devaux and the greats, especially Krug. These two houses were founded within three years of each other. Both wines stand on the dais as non-vintage blends among an elite cohort of mostly vintage-dated Champagnes. Krug blends nearly 200 separate vinifications from dozens of parcels over ten vintages. Devaux blends 300 vinifications—about 40% from a single vintage with the rest coming from their reserves. 

But while the old guard represents Champagne’s past, Devaux lights the way forward, an Aube house helping to pluralize Champagne and define a new golden era.

Critic Eric Asimov put it nicely in the New York Times, highlighting the Aube’s growing appeal for Champagne lovers the world over: “Rather than the hushed pop of the cork and the silken rush of bubbles, these Champagnes suggest soil on the boots and dirt under the fingernails.” He emphasized that these wines “can be as ethereal as their siblings to the north,” something we observed in our side-by-side tête-de-cuvée tasting. 

One of the many reasons we love this wine so much: It’s got teeth, but it’s still extremely pretty and not afraid to show a fruity side, with marzipan creaminess and a dark cherry pop.

If you’re a bubbly lover who hasn’t already fallen for the Côte des Bar, this is a phenomenal chance to see what the rest of us are gushing about. For those who're already in on the game, you’re bound to know a steal when you see one, and we’re sure you recognize this price Devaux as some world class burglary. 

As Decanter put it, quite aptly: “Take a bow, Devaux!”