Domaine Sébastien Brunet, Vouvray Brut “La Rocherie”

Does today’s label explicitly tell you that Sébastien Brunet’s artisanal wines have a buzzing reputation and tremendous, across-the-board quality that greatly exceeds their cost? No, it does not, but once you put your nose and palate to the test, the high caliber of his Vouvray bottlings cannot be denied.When the soil is brimming with life from organic farming and the wine is hand-crafted with minimal intervention, there is a profound lasting effect in the finished product. Add in the classic Champagne method, a boutique-scale production, and a $28 price tag, and the result is a feeding frenzy amongst sommeliers and Chenin Blanc purists. In other words, this is true farm-to-table Vouvray with an additional dimension that has transformed it into an extremely soft and generous sparkling wine. There’s no doubt that one can spend a lot more money on many thoroughly inferior wines in this region, so do not let the bargain-basement pricing fool you: For those who want a classic French sparkl