Moncuit’s wines are all from single villages and single years—this one from the family’s parcels in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and the 2016 vintage. Fermented spontaneously in stainless steel, it is markedly tense and holds a lot of energy in its structure, even though it underwent malolactic conversion. There’s an elegant earthiness in its spring-meadow scent, like Queen Anne’s lace, and a note of green tea that extends through flavors of lemons and tangy orange. Cool and refreshing.

The NV (2018) Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Delos Grand Cru is bright, crisp and bursting with character. Green pear, slate, crushed rocks and graphite are all beautifully knit together in this resonant, super-expressive Champagne. The Extra Brut is fabulous. Disgorged: April, 2023

Moncuit's non-vintage Cuvee Pierre Moncuit-Delos Blanc de Blancs Brut is typically a rich, powerful, crisp effort displaying notes of chalk dust, white peaches, subtle bees honey, brioche, and yellow plums. Medium-bodied with gorgeous as well as persistent effervescence, and a dry, fabulously pure, laser-like finish, it should be drunk over the next 3-4 years.

From 90-year-old vines in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, this is a superbly ripe wine, full-bodied, concentrated with a great swathe of minerality going through. This is still young, based on the 2004 vintage, but shows every sign of developing into a beautifully toasty maturity.