2014 Simonnet-Febvre Cremant de Bourgogne Brut Blanc 750 ml

This Simonnet-Febvre Crémant de Bourgogne is the object of our current obsession. It’s a wine that was unfamiliar to us until Louis Latour’s Bernard Retornaz sent us a bottle and told us to meet him at Point Reyes for oysters and slabs of Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam triple crème. You bet we obliged. 

Bursting with green apple, toasted biscuit, yellow flowers, and undertones of flinty minerality, this wine set off gastronomic fireworks alongside the creamy cheese, and its symphony of flavor only continued to develop over the course of an hour. With the complexity we’re used to seeing only in Champagne, Simonnet-Febvre’s crémant is now one of the bottles we keep chilled at all times. We suggest stocking up on this stunner so you can do the same.

The secret to Louis Latour’s unmatched value proposition is simple: 250 years of experience in Burgundy have given the family unmatched access to prime vineyard land, and unparalleled expertise in the cellars. After acquiring their first vineyards in the Côte d’Or in 1731, they have acquired choice parcels one by one, and longstanding family ownership means Louis Latour can offer stunning wines for a fraction of what their Grand Cru neighbors are charging.

Ever since 2003, when Louis-Fabrice Latour scooped up Simonnet-Febvre, the label has risen in stature, effectively getting what we’re calling the “Latour Treatment.” No matter the site—Grand Cru, Premier Cru, village-level—Latour is unique in that they treat all their parcels the same in the cellar: they handle grapes from the village level with the same care as those from their most-prized Grands Crus. 

In this lip-smacking value bubbly, the star treatment is obvious—this vintage-dated sparkling combines the minerality and toasty brioche notes that normally come in premier cru Champagnes in a value brut. We recommend stocking up.