2013 Champagne Claude Cazals, “Clos Cazals” Grand Cru Millésime

In 1897, Ernest Cazals arrived in Champagne from the Languedoc to deliver barrels and never left. Four generations later, his great-granddaughter Delphine crafts Champagnes that marry delicacy with aromatic power and an uncanny ability to age. This is a house that doesn't shout—it whispers, and you lean in to listen. The Clos Cazals is the estate's crown jewel: a 3.7-hectare walled Grand Cru vineyard in Oger, and the largest of only 21 officially recognized clos in all of Champagne. Delphine's grandfather purchased it in the 1950s from Léon Bourgeois, a United Nations founder and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and planted it entirely to Chardonnay in 1957. The stone walls create a sun trap, coaxing an extra degree of ripeness that neighboring parcels can only dream of. When Delphine petitioned to have it officially designated a clos in 1995, no one in her family believed it could happen. She proved them wrong. The 2013 vintage was a throwback to Champagne's cooler past—elegant, introverted,