Sur Sable

Champagne from one grower's sandy patch of 50-year-old vines, with no sugar added. Bone dry, fresh and piney - nothing like the big-brand bottles.

A Champagne made only from Meunier, grown by Jérôme Blin on sandy ground in the Marne Valley where his family has farmed since 1671. No sugar is added, so it is bone dry and fresh: redcurrant and rhubarb, a breath of pine and eucalyptus, then ripe yellow fruit and lemon with a light touch of wood. Silky, chalky and lean, a bright way to start an evening.