Patrick Piuze 'Val de Mer' French Sparkling Non Dose, France

Anything, it sounds like a lazy answer but its the truth.  This wine is amazing and fool proof.  Dry with ripe apple fruit and a soft feel on the palate, though the bubbles are very fine and the acidity is excellent. There's a toasty element from time spent on the lees, and a velvety quality both elegant and enticing. Non Dose means no sugar has been added to the final wine, which, Piuze and other naturalists believe, produces a wine of pure quality and true terroir essence.

Val de Mer is Patrick Piuze’s second winery, co-owned with Moutard-Diligent. The winemaking is very similar to his own, eponymous (and extremely well-regared) line: both are hand-harvested, both are spontaneously fermented, and the élèvage is the same.  

Made from 100% Chardonnay, sourced from vines over 25 years of age in a vineyard planted on limestone and clay soils in the town of Tonnerre (10 miles from Chablis, but no longer Chablis appellation). All the grapes are hand-harvested, and it is fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks before undergoing secondary fermentation. It then spends 9 months on the lees before it is disgorged and no dosage is added. This sparkler is loaded with chalky minerality.