SEPTEMBER 2025

Your next box is going to be packed with star power. Your two Alexis Leconte bottles from August will be accompanied by two spectacular bottles from Bonnet Ponson in the vilage of Chamery in the Montagne de Reims. If this sounds familiar it is because it is the same village of a former club producer Labbe & Fils. If you were to just walk in to town, not knowing anything about the producers there you would find some of your new favorites by the time you had knocked on just a few doors. Annually in the spring the entire village holds a tasting called the "Chamery Circus" (we have been to all of them) and they hold one of the best St. Vincent parades in Champagne. All of this is to say if you hang around long enough you really get a feel for what is going on here.

Cyril has been a friend for a few years and someone we always come back to when the conversation turns to the most exciting producers in Champagne. His vineyards are filled with fruit trees, maples, and a few other trees the birds decided to plant througout the years, a crazy sight to see in a sea of grapevines. Biodiversity is one of the keys to his success, he helps foster the lives of birds and bats and bees in the vines. This mixed with his non interventional wine making allows for some of the most interesting champagnes we have had in a while.

Your Champagne Happy Hour in a Box this month will include two of our favorites. The first is Non-Dosé Cuvée Perpetuelle a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay (each 40% of the blend) and Meunier (30%). It is a masterpiece in blending with grapes coming from 35 different plots across three different premier cru villages and 40% of the blend is held in a perpetuelle reserve blend adding depth, complexity and a bit of class to the blend. It showcases the powerful fruit of the region, the deft touch of the winemaker and the beauty of the Montagne de Reims.

Also arriving will be the Petit Melange, a blend of all seven (!) grapes from the Champagne region. This is a truly unique blend and almost no one is doing this and one could ague absolutely none are doing it better. It is a blend of the seven grapes coming from two vintages of 2018 and 19 all blended together and aged in a large sandstone egg. Very little of this is made and it is terrific! The taste starts out a bit Chardonnay with orchard fruit, lingers a bit as Arbanne and Petit Meslier, round full and waxy. The Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir come in together and show off red fruit and full body and the Meunier finishes off with a bit of spice. The Pinot Gris does what it does and stays out of the way but it's there. All in all its magic in your glass.

We are so excited to share the wonderful wines of our friend Cyril Bonnet with you this month and can't wait for you to try them!