I don’t think anybody or at least very few people celebrate the festive event of Twelfth Night now, but in Shakespeare’s day, when he wrote the charming and thoughtful romantic comedy “Twelfth Night; or, What You Will,” this day marked the end of the fun-filled, if not riotous Yuletide season and its culmination in the solemnity of the Epiphany. It’s all a fitting way to segue into a new year, during the month of, as far as the Romans were concerned, looking forward and gazing back. Be that as it may, I always enjoy the “Twelve Days of Christmas with Champagne and Sparking Wine,” especially when I can inform My Readers about products that may be interesting or unusual or new to them. I hope that I achieved success in that criteria for this, the sixth segment of the series. Looking forward, as Janus was wont to do with one of his faces, we have coming up on BTYH the “50 Great Wines of 2012″ and “25 Great Bargains of 2012,” though in a way, that’s looking back too. If I didn’t already do so, here on Twelfth Night I’ll wish all of you a Happy New Year and a 2013 that works to the best of your advantages and dreams.

Image from agoldoffish.wordpress.com.
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I have enjoyed tasting and writing about wines from Domaine Mittnacht Fréres several times this year, and certainly up to the standard is the Domaine Mittnacht Fréres Crémant d’Alsace, a Champagne method sparkling wine that’s a blend of 50 percent pinot auxerrois (a white clone of pinot noir) and approximately equal portions of riesling, pinot blanc, pinot gris and pinot noir. This is a crisp, lively and slightly chiseled sparkling wine that offers a pale straw color, loads of tiny bubbles and a fairly exquisite sense of delicacy married to purpose. Hints of pear, apricot and crystallized ginger are tempered by steel and flint for an overall impression that’s lean, spare and elegant but expressing lots of appeal and personality. I could drink this every day. 12 percent alcohol. Very good+. Prices range from about $19 to $24.

A Daniel Johnnes Selection for Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y. A sample for review.
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The Domaine Chandon Etoile Brut Rosé, North Coast (Napa and Sonoma counties), is one of the prettiest sparkling wines you’ll find, though it has a serious, even a dramatic side too. A blend of 48 percent chardonnay, 44 percent pinot noir and 8 percent pinot meunier, it displays an entrancing fiery copper-peach color and a steady pulse of infinitesimal glinting bubbles. The bouquet is characterized by strawberries and red currants enlivened by orange zest and cloves and hints of fresh-baked bread, flint and steel. There’s very agreeable tension among slashing acidity, taut and crisp-edged limestone-like minerality and an almost luxurious sense of round citrus and stone-fruit nuances and irresistible seductive power. This would be a great special occasion — i.e., romantic — sparkling wine. 13 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $50.

A sample for review.
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It’s a little daunting to encounter an estate whose motto is “Ethics. Ecology. Ethos.” and that gives its products names like “Sagesse,” “Tolérance,” “Harmonie” and “Reliance.” You wonder if you’re up to it. Taste the Champagnes from the little estate — I mean, 10 acres — of Franck and Isabelle Pascal, though, and you’ll realize that you don’t have to be Ralph Waldo Emerson to enjoy them. Franck Pascal took over his family’s property in 1994, when he was only 23, and he quickly worked to convert the vineyards to biodynamic practices. Whatever the reasons and effects of ethics, ecology and ethos, these are Champagnes of intense purity, power and elegance. Let’s bring this 2012/2013 edition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas with Champagne and Sparkling Wine” to a close with the Champagne Franck Pascal Tolérance Brut Rosé, a blend (according to the importer’s website) of 58 percent pinot meunier, 39 percent pinot noir and 3 percent chardonnay; 94 percent of the wine came from the 2004 vintage, 6 percent from 2005. The color is very pale but radiant onion skin with a faint coppery hue; the bubbles are almost explosive in their initial upward surge. Tolérance is an incredibly dry, high-toned and refined brut rose, with depth upon depth of limestone and shale-like minerality and yet so lacy and transparent that it feels not just delicate but crystalline and frangible., though cemented ultimately by the elemental and adamantine litheness of its tremendous acidity. It allows nuances of red-tinged berry-like scents and flavors, with faint, beguiling touches of dried fruit, biscuits and toasted hazelnuts, but this is mainly about exquisiteness, fine-breeding and Alpine austerity. I love it. 12 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $55 to $65, and Worth a Search.

Imported by LDM Wines, New York.

The well-known Champagne house of Moët & Chandon started looking for vineyard land in the Napa Valley in 1968. In 1973, in a partnership with Hennessy, the cognac producer (both owned by LVMH), the company bought acreage in Mount Veeder and Yountville, producing the first Domaine Chandon sparkling wine in 1976. Winemaker Tom Tiburzi has been at Chandon since 1989, working his way up through the winemaking staff; he is assisted by Pauline Lhote, whose family are farmers in Champagne. Chandon, long an iconic presence to the west of Hwy 29 across from the town of Yountville, makes a complete range of nonvintage sparkling wines, but today I want to feature two of its vintage series. These were samples for review.
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Neither the print material I received nor the winery’s website reveal the percentages of the blend of grapes in the Domaine Chandon Yountville Vintage Brut 2007, Yountville, Napa Valley, so all I can tell you is that it’s made from pinot noir and chardonnay from the Yountville district, north of the city of Napa. The southern area of Yountville particularly, where it’s coolest, is a prime location for chardonnay and pinot noir. The color is radiant medium gold; there’s a constant lively stream of tiny bubbles. Notes of roasted lemons and spiced pears are bolstered by toast and biscuits with hints of toffee and candied ginger and an undercurrent of smoke. The emphasis segues to crystalline acidity and scintillating limestone and flint elements that balance deftly a texture that’s substantial enough to be almost lush, though the fineness and elegance of the finish make it spare and lithe and slightly austere. 13 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2016 or ’17. Excellent. About $45.
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The Domaine Chandon Mount Veeder Vintage Brut 2006, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, focuses on chardonnay; it could, I suppose, be called blanc de blancs, but the powers at Chandon opted for a straightforward “brut” indication. The point would be: what are the differences between a sparkling wine made from Yountville grapes and one made from Mount Veeder grapes, especially if the latter is one year older? The color of the Mount Veeder sparkler is much paler, much blonder and Harlow-like than the hue of the Yountville version mentioned above. While there’s a similar component of fresh bread and biscuits, the Mount Veeder adds hints of roasted hazelnuts, cinnamon toast and caramel popcorn with a touch of baked apple and slightly honeyed peach. These qualities, let me emphasize, are expressed in a tone of utmost nuance and pure suggestion, because, above all, this is a sparkling wine that combines notable presence and persistence with finesse and refinement. 12.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $45.
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… and by special I mean that what I describe today is a fine Champagne from a great vintage (if farmers and producers were careful) that’s fully mature and will continue to drink well for another decade. The product in question is the Champagne Fleury Brut Millésimé 1996, a blend of 80 percent pinot noir and 20 percent chardonnay from a house that goes back to the beginning of the 20th Century and the planting of pinot noir vines by Emile Fleury. This estate was among the first to bottle its own Champagne, starting in 1927 with Robert Fleury, Emile’s son. In the 1970s, Emile’s grandson Jean-Pierre became concerned about the potential damage that the family’s vineyards could suffer under the regimen of the usual chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, and he began researching organic methods, eventually finding his way to biodynamic practices, which have prevailed at Fleury since 1989. The 15-hectare estate — 37.5 acres and 90 percent pinot noir — is now operated by Emile’s great-grandson, Jean-Sébastien.

So, what do we have? The Fleury Brut Millésimé 1996 sports a medium gold color with darker gold highlights and a plethora of infinitely teeny bubbles that spiral upward in dazzling but sedate display. Buttered toast and warm brioche; cloves, ginger and a hint of white truffles; lime peel, limestone and a flicker of flint: all of these elements add up to a complete sense of balance, suavity and elegance, but with a touch of something wild, yeasty, perpetually burgeoning. This is, in short, a Champagne of tremendous presence, tone and character that delivers a profound presence of limestone and gravel minerality layered with vibrant acidity and the subtlest of stone fruit flavors touched with smoke and toffee and sea-salt; the finish — long, lacy, racy, complex — devolves to limestone, spice and some austerity. 12.5 percent alcohol. Now through 2020 to 2026. Excellent. National average price is $109, but realistically, look for $90 to $100. Worth a Search.

Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York.

The house of Henriot was founded in 1808 by Apolline Henriot, widow of a vigneron and scholar whose family had owned vineyards since 1640. Henriot makes about 55,000 cases of champagne annually, which puts it in the fair-to-middling level; by comparison Taittinger makes 355,000 cases a year and Mumm makes 625,000. On the other hand, the company has displayed a fairly aggressive tendency toward acquisition, now owning, among other properties, the estates of Bouchard Pere et Fils in Burgundy and William Fevre in Chablis.

The Henriot Brut Souverain is usually touted as the house “entry-level” Champagne, meaning that it’s the least expensive of the roster. Be that as it may, we drank this blend of 60 percent pinot noir and 40 percent chardonnay on New Year’s Eve (and last night too) with our own cured gravlox, and it was delicious. The color is radiant medium gold; a tide of tiny bubbles swirls vigorously up the glass. Biscuits and fresh bread, pears, lime peel and ginger are wreathed with notes of limestone and chalk that take on increased resonance as moments pass. The Henriot Brut Souverain is one of those Champagnes — or any wine, too — that delivers so much personality and verve, so much frank appeal that its place in the firmament of beverages hardly matters; it draws you in irresistibly, and you just want to keep drinking. Part of that dynamic can be ascribed to the Champagne’s vivacious acidity; part to its almost glittering minerality; and part to its refreshing balance of savory and saline elements with the more ethereal nature of its effervescence. 12 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $52 as a national average, though I have seen it priced as low as $35.

Imported by Henriot USA, New York.

Judy Jordan was only 25 when she founded J Winery in 1986, adhering to the principle that Russian River Valley grapes could produce great sparkling wines. While in subsequent years the winery moved into still wines — chardonnay, pinot gris and pinot noir — the heart of the enterprise is still sparkling wines made in the traditional Champagne method of second fermentation and aging in the bottle. She is still the president of the winery. Today, I review two special products, the J Vintage Brut 2005 and the J Late Disgorged Vintage Brut 2003. This would be a good point at which to explain the rather unpalatable term “disgorged,” which sounds like what a coyote does after a night indulging in too much roadkill.

When the base wine is put into bottles, a mixture of sugar and yeast is added to restart the second fermentation that produces the bubbles; then the bottle is capped. After the Champagne or sparkling wine has aged an appropriate period — sometimes many years but more often 15 to 24 months — that mixture inside the bottle must be gotten rid of. This “disgorgement” is accomplished, at least traditionally, by freezing the bottle neck where the deposit has lodged, upending the bottle and popping the cap, thus expelling the frozen material. This is a simplified and sketchy description of the Champagne method, but you get the idea about disgorging.

These sparkling wines were samples for review.
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The blend of grapes in the J Vintage Brut 2005, Russian River Valley, is 54 percent chardonnay, 43 percent pinot noir and 3 percent pinot meunier. This sparkling wine aged nearly five years before being disgorged in October 2011, followed by three months aging “on the cork” before release. The pale gold color is activated by myriad glittering bubbles streaming to the surface. It’s a precise and crystalline sparkling wine, emitting lovely clean fresh aromas of roasted lemons and pears, toasted hazelnuts, quince and ginger and a burgeoning limestone quality. The wine, exquisite in many ways, exhibits terrific presence and tone; it’s dry and crisp with taut acidity that animates a supple texture wrapped around notes of yellow plums and caramelized grapefruit; reservoirs of limestone and chalk contribute a serious structure that does not detract from the wine’s innate elegance. 12.5 percent alcohol. Production was 700 cases. Drink now through 2015 to ’18. Excellent. About $48.
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The J Late Disgorged Vintage Brut 2003, Russian River Valley, was bottled in July 2004 and disgorged seven and a half years later in early 2012; the sparkling wine aged five more months “on the cork” before release. It’s a blend of 49 percent each pinot noir and chardonnay and 2 percent pinot meunier. The color is pale blond; the bubbles are fine, energetic, persistent, a transfixing of silver on gold. For a sparkling wine that’s nine years old, J Late Disgorged Brut 2003 is remarkably clean and elegant and elevating; ethereal aromas of steel and acacia are bolstered by notes of green apples and cloves, lime peel and lightly-buttered cinnamon toast, with the barest hint of fresh biscuits. You might think that a sparkling wine displaying so much winsome personality and appeal, that’s such a refined weaving of ephemeral tissues would be too fragile to be taken seriously, but you would, My Readers, be wrong, because J Late Disgorged Brut 2003 incorporates lithe sinews of crisp bold acidity and limestone and slate-flecked minerality to ensure the tensile strength of all its meticulously balanced elements. By the time this sparkling wine has passed mid-palate and you feel the deep resonance of its structure and the increasing power of its glacial austerity and authority, you should come to acknowledge that this is a brilliant effort, even though it feels so effortless. 12.5 percent alcohol. Production was 500 cases. Drink now through 2018 to 2020. Exceptional. About $90.

The striking image is from Cortney Roudebush’s blog Sip Swirl Savor, and I hope she doesn’t mind if I borrow it on New Year’s Day.
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… and I offer, as usual, a variety of Champagnes and sparkling wines to suit, I hope, every taste and pocketbook and every occasion, whether you’re entertaining the entire cast of Survivor: Dude, Is Mars Even Inhabitable? to the most private, secret rendezvous a deux. And be careful tonight and in the wee hours. I don’t want to lose any of My Readers to the vagaries of drunkenness, whether in themselves or others. Happy New Year!
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Yes, the Kenwood Yulupa Cuvée Brut, California, is manufactured in the Champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle, and for the price, it’s completely appropriate for large crowds. It’s a racy blend of chenin blanc, French colombard, chardonnay and pinot noir that’s fresh, effervescent, clean, crisp and very dry; packed with limestone-like minerality verging on the saline quality of oyster shells, it offers hints of roasted lemons and pears and a touch of spice. According to Kenwood’s website, the Yulupa Cuvée Brut is available only in December. Very Good. About $12, but discounted as low as $9 throughout the country.
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The story of Gloria Ferrer’s sparkling wines in Sonoma County makes a chronicle of constant improvement and success. In fact, one of the products I reviewed in my first wine column, published in July, 1984, in The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis, was a very early rendition of the Gloria Ferrer Brut, and I didn’t think much of it. I’m happy to say that’s not the case all these years later. The Gloria Ferrer Brut, Sonoma County, is a blend of 91.2 percent pinot noir and 8.8 percent chardonnay, and I sort of dote on that accuracy of detail. The color is medium gold with a pale copper flush, energized by a streaming froth of tiny golden bubbles. Notes of dried strawberries and raspberries reveal hints of roasted lemons and lime peel over a layer of limestone and flint; lip-smacking acidity keeps this sparking wine crisp and lively, while its lovely, dense texture, given a dose of elegance by scintillating minerality, lends personality and appeal. 12.5 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $22.
A sample for review.
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The Argyle Brut 2008, Willamette Valley, Oregon, a blend of 63 percent pinot noir and 37 percent chardonnay, presents an exuberant welter of fresh biscuits and steel, cinnamon bread and limestone, quince and crystallized ginger. The color is pale gold; tiny winking bubbles spiral ever upward. I cannot overemphasize the terrifically irresistible nature of this sparkling wine, its elegance and elevating nature, its blitheness rooted in the stones and bones of crisp, nervy acidity and the essential, lacy element of limestone-like minerality. In the background are hints of lemons, baked apple and toasted hazelnuts, these elements subsumed into a finish that delivers a final fillip of flint and caramelized grapefruit. 13 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $27.
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All right, so you want real Champagne for New Year’s Eve, like from France, the Champagne region, but you don’t want to hijack your credit card or fall into 2013 already entailed by debt. (Haha, good luck with that!) Choose, then, the Champagne Philippe Fontaine Brut Tradition, a 70/30 pinot noir/pinot meunier blend that will satisfy your festive taste-buds and spirit as well as your wallet. The color is shimmering pale gold, and tiny bubbles indeed shimmer up through the glass. This is an very attractive, clean yet savory and nicely faceted Champagne that features a modulated toasty character, vibrant blade-like acidity, heaps of limestone and flint elements for minerality and a texture engagingly balanced between fleetness and moderate density. What’s not to like? 12 percent alcohol. Very Good+. Prices vary widely, but the national average is about $28.

Imported by Bourgeois Family Selections, Asheville, N.C.
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David Léclapart cultivates three hectares — about 7.7 acres — of mainly chardonnay vines in the Premier Cru village of Trépail. I have unfortunately never possessed a whole bottle of any of Léclapart’s four cuvees — L’Amateur, L’Artiste, L’Alchimiste, L’Apôtre — having tasted them on three occasions in New York at trade events, but those encounters made me wish devoutly for more intimate and prolonged contact. The estate has been operated since 1998 on biodynamic principles, certified by EcoCert and Demeter; the wines are made sans dosage, that is, without sugar for the second fermentation, so they are bone-dry, sometimes achingly so. And yet they are, at least to my palate, eminently appealing, though equally demanding, even rigorous. Champagne David Léclapart L’Amateur Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut (sometimes called the estate’s “entry-level” wine) is a 100 percent chardonnay Champagne that was fermented in stainless steel. Notes of limestone, flint and steel practically explode from the glass; paradoxically, while it takes elegance to the farthest extreme in the realms of chilliest allure, L’Amateur reveals a savory, earthy background, as well as an unexpected wisp of camellia and fresh apples and pears. Acidity, it’s almost needless to mention, is of the most resonance and chiseled quality, while the limestone element feels deeply and irrevocably etched. If I were summoned to my fate tomorrow morning on the dueling ground, I would sip a glass of this Champagne before turning to face my foe. 12.5 percent alcohol. Exceptional. Again, price range across the map, but the national average appears to be about $83.

Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York.
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… and when I say “a superior cava,” I’m not damning with faint praise. As many of My Readers know, “cava” is the term for Spanish sparkling wine produced in the Champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle, the step that produces the all-important bubbles. Just because cava in made in the method of Champagne does not mean, of course, that cava resembles Champagne, even with the bubbles, one reason being that traditionally cava was made pretty exclusively from indigenous grapes, that is, macabeu, xarel.lo and parellada, which sound like names in a science-fiction novel. Cava, in other words, could often be refreshing, charming and delightful, as well as uniquely Spanish, but seldom displayed complexity or depth. That situation changed when forward-thinking producers started adding chardonnay and pinot noir to their cava, along with the traditional grape varieties. A terrific example of such a model is the CR20 Cava d’Aniversari per a Carme Ruscalleda 2006, Gran Reserva Extra Brut, made by Mont-Ferrant to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Carme Ruscalleda’s restaurant in Sant Pau. (Mont-Ferrant was founded in Catalonia in 1865 by August Vilaret.)

So, the blend in CR20 Cava 2006 is 60 percent chardonnay, 20 percent xarel.lo and 10 percent each macabeu and parellada. The color is medium gold; a stream of fine bubbles seethes up through the glass. The first impression is of bread and biscuits, backed up by limestone and steel and notes of hay and acacia, roasted lemon and a hint of pear; a few moments bring in touches of ginger and green tea. This is a saline and savory sparkling wine, energized by brisk acidity and the buoyancy of a spanking sea-breeze yet given a layering of nutty yeast and toast with elements of cloves and limestone-like minerality. All aspects add up to a cava of rare presence and character. 12.6 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $30.

Imported by Maritime Wine Trading Collective, San Francisco. A sample for review. Image from adictosalalujuria.com.

So here we are at the penultimate day of 2012, a year that will not, I venture, be remembered with great affection, either publicly or privately. December 30th is the Holy Day of two rather obscure figures, Pope Felix I, who reigned approximately from 269 to 274 and about whom very little is known, not even if he was actually a martyr, and Ecgwine (died 717), bishop of Worcester whose remains after the Norman Conquest were said to have inspired miracles. Selected birthdays include Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), Bert Parks (1914-1992), Jack “Book ‘em, Danno!” Lord (1920-1998), Bo Diddley (1928-2008) and Davy “Daydream Believer” Jones (1945-2012).

In doing the research on the Champagne Françoise Bedel Entre Ciel et Terre Brut — “between sky and earth” — I ran into contradictory information about its composition. Some sources said that it was 100 percent pinot meunier, others that it was 80 percent pinot meunier and 20 percent pinot noir, and still others that is was a blend of 41 percent chardonnay, 35 percent pinot noir and 24 percent pinot meunier. I contacted Jon-David Headrick, importer of Françoise Bedel, and asked “what’s up?” It turns out that all the sources were correct but for different editions of the wine. The composition of the example that I tried in New York back in February, at “The Return to Terroir” event, is indeed 80 percent pinot meunier and 20 percent pinot noir. The vast variation in the make-up of “Entre Ciel et Terre” isn’t the result of inconsistency but a conscious decision to allow the character of the year and the harvest to dictate the nature of the wine. Unlike the large Champagne firms, which maintain an identifiable house-style year by year, especially for the non-vintage products, small estates tend not to purchase grapes or keep large stores of reserve wines for blending. There’s nothing wrong with the former practice; one reason I love a Champagne like the nonvintage Pol Roger Brut Réserve is because it does provide the pleasure and security of a consistent and recognizable manner. It’s also gratifying though to mark the individuality and handcrafted qualities of smaller, primarily family-owned and operated houses like Champagne Françoise Bedel.

Françoise Bedel took over her parents’ estate in the tiny village of Crouttes sur Marne in 1979; her son Vincent joined her professionally in 2003. Bedel owns 8.4 hectares — about 20.75 acres — of vines that range from 20 to 60 years old. The emphasis is on the pinot meunier grape, which accounts for 79 percent of the vineyards, with chardonnay making up 14 percent and pinot noir 7 percent. The estate has been operated on biodynamic principles since 1998, that is, no synthetic chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides or insecticides and a strict calendar-based regimen of special organic “teas” and totally natural mixtures to ensure the health and integrity of the vineyards. I’m a skeptic about the efficacy of the more radical biodynamic philosophy and techniques, but in the case of Francoise Bedel, the result is great Champagne.

You know how there are some grand edifices that are imposing without being distinguished? In terms of that comparison, Françoise Bedel Cuvee Entre Ciel et Terre Brut is both imposing and distinguished. This is indeed a Champagne of grand proportions, quite sizable, very dry, possessing dimension and detail in abundance. The color is pale straw-gold, enlivened by a tempest-like froth of bubbles. The approach is all limestone and steel, with a snap of gun-flint and undertones of cloves and ginger. It’s a mouth-filling Champagne, substantial, high-toned, even a little demanding in its sheer elegance and austerity; one understands the metaphor of earth and sky in its inextricable melding of scintillating minerality and (paradoxically) the more delicate elusive fruit and floral qualities that provide a sense of urgent elevation. This is exciting stuff, a Champagne of great character yet tremendous appeal. 12 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $75 as a national average.

Imported by Jon-David Headrick Selections, Chapel Hill, N.C.

December 29 is the Holy Day of Thomas Becket, murdered by four knights of Henry II in 1170 and canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1172. Today’s birthdays include Charles Goodyear (1800-1860), Andrew Johnson, our luckless 17th president (1808-1875); and Mary Tyler Moore (76), Marianne Faithfull (66), Ted Danson (65), Patricia Clarkson (53) and Jude Law (40).

Champagne Besserat de Bellefon was founded in 1843 by Edmond Besserat. Then, it was simply Besserat; the name of the house was completed in 1927, when Besserat’s grandson, also named Edmond, married Yvonne de Meric de Bellefon. Headquarted in Epernay, the house produces about 40,000 cases annually. It is now owned by Lanson BCC, headed by Bruno Paillard.

The Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Brut, non-vintage — though it would be more accurate to say mixed or blended vintages — offers a beautiful moderate gold color and a robust fountain of tiny bubbles. The impression this Champagne creates is, in fact, of a robust character that manages to be fairly elegant at the same time. The blend of grapes is 45 percent pinot meunier, 35 percent chardonnay and 20 percent pinot noir. This is toasty, with lots of acacia and almond blossom, biscuits and cinnamon toast, roasted hazelnuts and lemons, hints of toffee and walnut crème; also, though, there’s a delicate structure of clean acidity, fresh apples and apple skin, cloves and allspice, a sort of lacy transparency of limestone and flint, with a finish that stretches out in a pleasing but slightly bracing and austere haze of minerals, hay, stone fruit and, ok, more crisply faceted minerals. The whole effect is somewhat lapidary. 12.5 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $45 to $55.

Imported by Winesellers Ltd., Niles, Ill.

Birthdays today: Our 28th President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924); jazz pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines (1903-1983); actor Lew Ayres (1908-1996); and among the living, Stan Lee (90), Maggie Smith (78), Denzel Washington (58), Noomi Rapace (33) and Sienna Miller (31).

One of my “rules” in the “Twelve Days of Christmas with Champagne and Sparkling Wine” series — now in its sixth year! — is that I never repeat a wine. I may repeat a label or brand, perhaps, but not the same product. I say that now because I included two Champagnes from the house of Gosset in the first week of January segment of this series in 2007/2008 — the Grande Reserve Brut and the Brut Excellent — and today will review a different one, the Gosset Grand Blanc de Blancs Brut.

Established in 1584, the house of Gosset is the oldest wine producer in Champagne. In those days, however, the wine wasn’t the sparkling product that we know and love today; that process didn’t begin until the late 17th Century, and for 125 years or so the practice of producing a sparkling wine by a second fermentation in the bottle was an inexact and accident-prone science. In any case, the Gosset family was certainly there at the creation of the champagne wine industry.

In 1994, after 410 years of ownership by the same family, Gosset was purchased by the Remy-Cointreau company and Beatrice Cointreau was put in charge, wisely keeping to the same regime of grapes purchased primarily from Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards, barrel fermentation and no malolactic, so the Gosset champagnes retain more than usual vivacity.

The Gosset Grand Blanc de Blancs Brut is a pale blond beauty, all steel and limestone and quince and with intriguing hints of ginger, hay and lemongrass, enlivened by a steady stream of tiny bubbles and fleet-footed acidity. Blanc de blancs — “white from whites” — means that this is all chardonnay and in this case all grapes from Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards. Gosset Grand Blanc de Blancs Brut is cool, sleek and elegant, exactly as I like a blanc de blancs to be, yet it exudes a touch of biscuits and buttered cinnamon toast for a bit of warmth. This feels completely dry, and the limestone-like minerality and vibrant acidity build from mid-palate back through the finish, concluding in an element of chalk-like and slightly honeyed but brisk grapefruit austerity that merely adds to the Champagne’s somewhat Olympian allure. 12 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $68.

I chose the Gosset Grand Blanc de Blancs Brut to accompany our traditional Christmas Day Southern Breakfast of fried eggs, grits, biscuits, country ham and red-eye gravy. Why, you ask, such a high-toned Champagne with such a down-home meal? Because it takes that effervescence, the bright acidity and the cleanness, the blade-like effect to cut through the richness and the fat, and because it’s, you know, just plain fun.

Imported by Palm Bay International, Boca Raton, Florida. A sample for review.