MV Lancelot-Royer, Champagne Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru "Cuvée de Chevaliers"

The level of craftsmanship and history you can get from Champagne in the sub-$100 range is simply astounding: Take Lancelot-Royer, for example: If ever a producer embodied “artisanal” production, it’s this one. With proprietor Michel Chauvet at the helm, Lancelot-Royer has dedicated itself to the manual labor of wine: from harvest to riddling to disgorgement to bottling, Chauvet literally has his hands on everything. Today’s wine is his flagship “Cuvée des Chevaliers,” a blanc de blancs with a broader, denser quality than most all-Chardonnay Champagnes. Sourced from Grand Cru vineyards in the Côtes des Blancs village of Cramant, this bottle challenges one’s perceptions as to what a blanc de blancs wine is capable of; if you’re thinking “light and lemony,” think again—this is a powerful, laser-focused expression of Chardonnay, and soil, that happens to be sparkling. Just, wow! Not only is this wine 100% Chardonnay but its home village, Cramant, is nearly 100% planted to the variety. Thi