NV Pierre Moncuit Blanc de Blancs Brut Millesime Grand Cru 750 ml

Proving Bobby Stuckey’s Advice With Grand Cru Bubbly

For those of you who know of Bobby Stuckey (and if you don’t) the legendary restaurateur, Master Sommelier, and James Beard winner behind Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder recently gave a jaw-dropping interview to The Daily Beast. One point he made that caught our eye was about blind tasting for quality. “If you’re not good enough of a sommelier to blind taste and assess quality,” he says, “stop playing around... get to work.”

For Stuckey, everything comes down to the guest experience—his success shows that it works because wine lovers the world around trust him and his team. We’ve dined at Frasca, and every time we marvel at the bang for our buck when it comes to the wine list. Today, we’re taking Bobby’s words of advice straight to you with a Grand Cru Champagne that proves his point and highlights what we do best. Every day we taste wines to assess the quality and we reject more than is often financially sound for us. But we do that because we want to be sure that when you pop the cork, you’re extremely happy with the wine we suggested.

Today’s NV Pierre Moncuit Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Champagne is the very definition of a steal when we’re talking Grand Cru Champagne from the famous soils of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. While we know some of you will hunt down break-the-bank classics like Krug’s Clos du Mesnil bottling, which will run you a cool thousand bucks, there’s no reason to— not when the Pierre Moncuit (released at $65) is offered for just $44.99 per bottle. This is a no-brainer for lovers of Grand Cru Champagne.

Pierre Moncuit has been producing wines in the Le Mesnil—the heart of Champagne’s Chardonnay vineyards—for four generations, since the early 1950s. But his family has tended vines since the late 1800s. His neighbors in the Grand Cru village of Mesnil-sur-Oger include Krug, Salon, Pierre Peters, and Gonet. But his vines are among the oldest in the Grand Cru.  

A mere 333 cases of this 100% Chardonnay champagne were produced—a fraction of that makes its way stateside. We have 30 cases. Offering up generous aromas that call to mind still Meursault, but riddled with the vibrancy and energy of Le Mesnil’s white chalk soils, and its crystalline fruit, saline minerality, and creamy texture from mellowing three years on the lees, it is a remarkable Champagne for the price.

Like Bobby Stuckey says, “stop playing around,” or in this case, don’t break the bank. We’ve sussed this one out for quality and rare is the bottle from the Grand Cru of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger that comes this close to the brilliance for the price. À votre santé!