NV Albert Lebrun Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut Champagne 750 ml

Champagne Albert Lebrun flies so far under the radar you might call them downright stealth. They’ve been crafting bombshells like this Blanc de Noirs in nearly top-secret fashion for 160 years. In the US, only somms and Champagne superfans have heard of them, and their bottles are next to impossible to track down. So imagine our delight when we nabbed this allocation. 

Lebrun doesn’t have a robust marketing department focused on feeding the hype machine. Instead, they’ve put all their efforts and investments into crafting and cellaring high-quality wines. At one point they had stockpiled nearly a million bottles in inventory, aging them to perfection for nonvintage blends just like this one. 

Pinot Meunier from the western Marne Valley has become one of the hottest revelations in Champagne over the last decade, as producers like Bérêche, Moussé, and Prevost have demonstrated the potential of the lesser-known variety—with eye-popping prices to show for it. 

Meunier is generally earthier and rounder than Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and in this bottle, that character pops out against a sturdy backbone of acidity. This Lebrun Blanc de Noirs is 100% Marne-grown Meunier, offering vividly concentrated stone fruit, notes of orchard flowers, and outstanding freshness. 

Established in 1860, Champagne Albert Lebrun flourishes today under the leadership of five brothers who are third-generation descendants of the house’s founder. Located in Chalons-en-Champagne, near Reims, Lebrun doesn’t have the fame of other producers in the region, but it does have access to some of the best sites—and they apply their 150+ years of winemaking experience to transform these stellar grapes into a fleet-footed and remarkably fine Champagne.