The best party is a Champagne party
Things are getting festive. Champagne helps.
Below: a recap of last week's cheerful Champagne tasting, insight from Chris' pilgrimage, and an in-stock list of some of the region's emerging-and-best stars!

A WALK-AROUND TO REMEMBER
Last Thursday we hosted Corkhoarder's Bryan Garcia and (almost) his entire portfolio of incredibly forward-thinking Champagnes.
It was pretty merry: we mingled, snacked on fried chicken and potato chips (crème fraîche!), and tasted our way through 14 bottles (yes, Champenois Rouge, too). Frankly, many of the names on the tables were rare birds for a tasting like this – we're grateful to Bryan for cracking them open with us.
Don't worry, we snagged some extras for you to celebrate with at home. Check the lineup below.

Chris Leon and Bryan Garcia

VISITING CHAMPAGNE
Perhaps more than any other French region, Champagne at large can feel like a factory. As you drive through the major areas, you feel the scale and industry behind it.
That is, until you visit producers like the growers represented below (and those in the Corkhoarder portfolio): they're tiny, often with a literal handful of barrels to offer. As Chris experienced firsthand on his visit there this fall, for the 2024 vintage – Pinot Noir in particular – there's even less.
When you consider what defines truly good Champagne, it's remarkable that we have the opportunity to taste these stateside.
IN CÔTE DES BAR
We've danced around the Côte des Bar here in the past; from the Aube at large, to the hallowed hill of Montgueux. But, it's worth a note that the Pinot-heavy region is producing some of the most exciting new producers these last several years have seen.
Chris' trip confirmed this with a stark visual: driving through, it was the one part of Champagne that felt verdant and green, forests surrounding the vineyards and teeming with life even on a rainy day like today.

Compared to industrial areas further north (where being certified organic is more meaningful), there's a lot of non-vineyard land planted in the area.
And, very importantly, growers' holdings here are more contiguous – full on blocks and vineyards vs. scant rows of vines. It's been said before but, truly, this part of Champagne is like Burgundy: in soil, in topography, in organization.