CHAMPAGNE AYALA, BRUT ROSÉ & BLANC DE BLANCS

 

CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE
 

If you love great Champagne, then you need to remember this name: Caroline Latrive.
 

A brilliant winemaker, Latrive has transformed the iconic Champagne house Ayala from a very good maker into an exceptional one, putting her enormous talent in the service of a vision that seeks to honor tradition, while embracing new technologies and recent advances in viticulture. 
 

These are not merely well-made and rewarding Champagnes, they are exciting Champagnes, full of all the passion, artistry, and exactitude that Latrive (one of only three women to have earned the distinction of cellar master in Champagne) has brought to this grand house, founded more than 180 years ago.
 

This gorgeous Le Blanc de Blancs Brut is a glittering example of her craft. Made in the dry style that is the hallmark of the house, it claimed a spot on Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 of 2021, with the magazine hailing its "freshness, tight crispness, and taut minerality" and awarding 94 points.
 

We are privileged to be able to bring it to you — and at a remarkable price, to boot.
 

Produced in small quantities, but only in exceptional years (and 2015 happens to have been a superb year for Chardonnay from the Côte de Blancs), it's made with 100% Chardonnay grapes sourced exclusively from the finest crus of the Côte des Blancs and aged in the Art Deco cellars at Ayala. This is a medium- to full-bodied wine, fleshy and rich, but it's sprightly, too, with an incisiveness that gives shape and definition to the voluptuousness. The finish is long and deep, and, as with so many wines of the Côte de Blancs, a persistent and distinctive note of minerality to carry you home.
 

Ideal as an aperitif, it's also a sneakily good dance partner for seafood — with, say, a pan-seared salmon, a shrimp risotto or a lobster bisque.
 

The same might also be said of the Rosé Majeur, which James Suckling, in a 93-point rave, hailed for its "superb freshness and attractive fragrance with focused, fine textural detail on the palate."
 

A blend of 50% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, and 10% Pinot Meunier, and aged three years on the lees, it's a wonderful example of the animating dualities that we find in so many of Latrive's Champagnes: voluptuousness and elegance, liveliness and charm.
 

Stock up now on these two keepers, while this pricing lasts!

 


 

*Offer NOT valid in-store. This offer is made pre-arrival, with wines estimated to be delivered to your preferred store in Fall 2022. With the supply chain issues that we are seeing globally, there may be some unforeseen delays which could affect the ETA. All sale prices are the lowest available at Total Wine & More and ONLY valid through Concierge Sales. No further discounts or coupons may be applied. Offer not valid in MI, NY, or TN. This offer is for ONE WEEK, or until sold out, and will expire on Thursday, August 11, 2022.