10 Champagnes Under $60 That You Will Want to Stock Up On!
11/23/24 -
As the holiday season approaches, there is no better time to stock up on Champagne. Although I am a firm believer in the idea that you can drink Champagne any night of the week, any week of the year, I understand that many choose holidays, birthdays, and New Years to bring out the bubbles. So just in time for Thanksgiving, we bring you 10 different champagnes, all grown organic or biodynamically that are less than $60. I did include two magnums as well that fall over 60 bucks but carry an incredible value. I feel it is pertinent to add that these wines are anything but ordinary. Each was selected to showcase the beauty and complexity within Champagne, with the newer generation doing things (especially farming) a little differently than the generations prior. There are a lot of incredible wines to be had here that will be great on your table for dinner tonight, or an upcoming holiday. And remember, magnums show you care.
Cheers! -Hanna Krilov
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Champagne Gamet
The story of Gamet Champagne begins just after World War I with Victoire Garnier, and Berthe Heucq two women who were small growers ready to begin their own companies. Decades later in 1993, Fabienne Heucq (Berthe’s great-grandaughter) and Philippe Gamet (Victoire’s great-grandson) met and fell in love. Since 2018 their daughter has been leading the domaine as the 4th generation, farming 8 hectares across 3 villages. Marienne spoke that, “The idea is to continue working on the Champagne side, as something artisanal, to keep the philosophy of recoltant manipulant, improving techniques in vinification and the cellar, but we also continue to develop on the farm side, since we were farmers from the beginning.”
Today we have their Rive Driote, a Pinot Meunier dominant Blanc de Noirs that is such a fun food wine as well as their Brut Rose (also Pinot Meunier dominant) that has so much energy, and is full of red fruit notes.
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Mouzon-Leroux
Sébastien Mouzon is the 9th generation to farm in Verzy where his family roots date back to 1776. After taking over in 2008, he began converting 8 ½ hectares to organic viticulture with certification in 2012. Just 7 years later he became Demeter certified for Biodynamic practices with the goal of having a more natural, holistic approach to farming. After initial fermentation, Sébastien will age his wines up to two years in barrel before bottling for second fermentation. In the cellar there is very minimal-to-zero sulfur used with very little dosage used, if any. Sébastien is creating unique wines that reflect terroir as well as his philosophies. His l'Atavique showcases the savory side of champagne with finesse and fine bubbles.
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Champagne Chavost
Champagne Chavost is a cooperative winery in Chavot that has been led by Fabian Daviaux since 2019. The original co-op began in 1946 with around 20 growers and today has over 70 multi-generational growers. Since Fabian has been in charge, he has convinced all of the members to take their entire 5.5 hectares of organic vines and create a range of wines made without any additives or sulfites. This bold decision on his part has been a great success. All the wines are not acidified, deacidified, chaptalized, receive dosage, or have any added sulfur. They go through alcoholic and malolactic fermentation without the use of commercial yeasts or enzymes. It is simply the juice used in production. Additionally, each wine is made from a single vintage but due to their short time on tirage, they do not receive official vintage status.
Pick between 750s or Magnums of Blanc d'Assemblage, a blend of all three main grapes that is bright, fresh, and crisp as can be. Only 315 magnums of this wine were made!
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Laherte Freres
This family estate was founded in 1889 in the village of Chavot. Big changes came with the 4th generation, Michel Laherte who expanded the family estate and then began to modernize the press and tanks. He then stopped the use of herbicides and pesticides, allowing the full terroir expression of the wines to shine through. Since 2005 Aurélien has been at the helm, and he has become one of the most progressive rising stars of the appellation. He understands the importance of the Ultradition lineup providing flagship cuvees that reflect the quality of the family wines paired with amazing value. 7 out of 10.5 total hectares are farmed biodynamically and certified organic with the remainder being farmed organically.
Both 750s and magnums of this wine would be excellent for your holiday table, lean, bright, and beautifully aromatic.
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Champagne Tellier
The Tellier family has owned vines in Champagne since 1938. In 2016, brothers Quentin and Alexandre took 3 hectares to vinify their own micro-cuvees. The Laherte family has historically purchased grapes from the Telliers, a testament to the farming practices that are organic. Uniquely, all wines from Tellier are vintage dated, from their entry level up to their parcellaire wines. Les Massales is an excellent introduction to these brothers' wines.
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Champagne Guenin
The Guenin family has been in the Côte de Bar since 1648, Sébastien is the 11th generation winemaker and cultivated his first vintage in 2015. Sourcing vineyards from those his great-grandfather planted in 1952, Sébastien is making champagnes of finesse with aromatic complexity. To keep production limited, the Guenins only select the best plots that show clear terroir and therefore sell a majority of their grapes to negociants.
The predominantly Chardonnay based Effloraison is a great aperitif style wine that will pair very nicely with seafood and lighter poultry.
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Hervé Rafflin
Hervé took over his family domaine of 5 hectares in 2001. His vines average 30-40 years in age and are certified organic as of 2021. The production here can vary greatly just depending on the vintage as Hervé will say how nature dictates business, not demand.
We have included Hervé's entry wine La Nature'L which is one of the greatest values in Champagne today and his 100% Pinot Meunier Les Monthouzons which is a beautiful, rich and robust style of champagne.
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Champagne Ponson
The Ponson Family have owned and worked the vineyards for five generations. After completing his enology degree, Maxime Ponson returned home at the age of 25 and was hoping to convert the vineyards to organic viticulture. His father disagreed but allowed Maxime to convert ½ hectare to organic farming to compare with his own more conventional approach. Maxime was able to convince his father that organic viticulture was the right move for the domaine. The conversion to fully organic for the remainder for the domaine was completed for the 2018 harvest.
Their 1er Cru Champagne has been a go to for Chambers St. Wines for years!
