Champagne Cuvée des Chevaliers Grand Cru Brut Nature NV, P. Lancelot-Royer

This is zero-dosage Blanc de Blancs that still manages to feel generous: chalky drive up front, then a slow unfurl of green apple, yellow pear, lemon zest, dried white flowers, and that “Champagne pantry” thing—honeycomb, almond paste, a little brioche-adjacent savor that reads more like depth than sweetness. Built from estate Grand Cru Chardonnay, with a meaningful reserve-wine component, and aged a long time on lees, it lands lithe, precise, and quietly complex—the kind of Brut Nature that doesn’t need to shout because it already has receipts. Pair it with oysters, smoked fish, roast chicken, or anything salty-creamy that wants a citrusy blade through it.

About the Winery

Lancelot-Royer is a tiny, grower-producer rooted in Cramant, one of the Côte des Blancs’ benchmark Grand Cru villages for Chardonnay. The domaine focuses on estate fruit and a distinctly hands-on, artisan approach—old-school enough to include an upright wooden press and hand riddling, with an emphasis on letting Cramant’s chalk speak clearly rather than dressing it up.

“Cuvée des Chevaliers” is a good snapshot of their house style and sourcing: Grand Cru Chardonnay grown on classic chalk soils (the tech sheet calls out Kimmeridgian chalk), fermented in stainless with indigenous yeasts, and then given extended bottle aging (about four years) before release. The blend typically incorporates around 30% reserve wine, and in the Brut Nature version there’s no added dosage—which is exactly why it feels so clean, mineral, and tensile while still having that layered, leesy texture.