Etienne Calsac 'L'Echapee Belle' Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV Champagne, France

Grape 🍇: Chardonnay

Style 😋: Medium bodied with racy acidity and fine, silky bubbles. Aromas of green apple, lemon zest, white flowers, and crushed chalk lead to an intense mineral finish with a hint of toast and sea spray.

Details 📌: Certified organic and made entirely from estate grown Chardonnay. Half of the fruit comes from the Côte de Sézanne, with the rest from Grauves and Bisseuil. 20% of the blend comes from a perpetual reserve started in 2011. Base wine from 2022 was aged seven months on lees, with 25% in neutral 500 to 600 liter barrels. Disgorged January 2025 with a 3 g/l dosage.

Story 📖: In 2010, at just 26 years old, Étienne Calsac took back his grandparents’ three hectares of vineyards in and around Avize, which had long been leased to large houses. With a strong commitment to terroir and transparency, he converted the vines to organic farming and began vinifying each parcel separately. L’Échappée Belle (“great escape”), his entry cuvée, captures the precision and energy of a new generation of Champagne growers: thoughtful, meticulous, and unafraid to break from tradition.