Enjoyed on: February 14, 2021

For 50% of us, it was a four-day weekend. E had planned a ski trip to Lapland Lake and she thoroughly enjoyed two days of cold winter sun, switching between skate-skiing and classic. On Sunday, though, J decided this was a strategic moment for a trip of his own. Benson, NY lies about 60 miles north of the state capital, Albany. J had been waiting for an excuse to get close to Albany, having recently heard of a liquor store with a fantastic champagne collection at great prices. While E snowplowed and herringboned, J embarked on a fact-finding mission to determine if the rumors about this establishment were true.

They were. He returned from his voyage with a great bounty. Among the most interesting was one we decided to try at home that very night: Champagne Veuve Fourny & Fils, Brut, a premier cru champagne.

Color: Sun on Snow. Pale yellow. Possibly this came to mind because of how we spent the weekend, but nonetheless it's apt. The color in the glass was a gold sun, but hesitant, as it is in winter.

For the first time ever, we have to include an auditory note. There is an audible fizzle as bubbles pop across the top of the glass, adding to the overall effect.

The mellowness strikes you immediately. You can tell that the flavors have had time to age and calm down. Fruits like pineapple predominate, but beneath that, a subtler note that reminded John of banana. Caramel plays counterpoint to the overall freshness. After a minute or two, we noticed something else: a distinctive textural experience. Something about the way bubbles pop across the tongue and palate, grounded by the layer of mellow caramel, was exactly like the shatter when you bite into the icing on top of a donut. Lovely.

6 grams of dosage places this beauty right at the edge between Brut and Extra Brut. We didn't find it overly sweet at all, despite our cactus-like preference for extreme dryness.

Sipping this was a slow fade from Sunday into the workweek. One mouthful holds contradictions--zippy and sharp, then mellow. A fresh start.