Baldi Pain Extra Brut Champagne

Grand Cru. V is a blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay mostly from 2016 with 25% being a perpetual reserve that goes back to 2005. 70% of the cuvee was initially aged in locally produced oak barrels from Verzy while 30% was aged in stainless steel. After a 10 month initial ageing process, it was put into bottle for a little over 3 years, and disgorged with a dosage of 2 grams per liter. Benjamin and Paul hold the Champagne for six months after disgorgement before release. Via a Zoom call recently, Paul remarked that making Champagne has taught him to be patient. With a total production of 3000 bottles per year, we are truly drinking a small production Champagne. The nose opens with notes of hazelnut and cream that give way to pear and baked apples with additional fruit notes of lemon and kumquat. The palate is moderate in weight with preserved lemon, baked apple, soft spice, fresh pastry, and just there cream. Paul says that his Champagne is at best a decade out from the vintage, so this will be enjoyable through 2030 at least. Try it with Country Pâté, or pick some up from Maison Nico in SF. D&M Tasting Notes

We want to highlight a San Francisco connection. It all starts with an international job offer. Paul Baldi had worked a number of gigs in Paris and Champagne before he was offered the job of Wine Director at the newly opened Bar Crenn in San Francisco. With the restaurant up and running Paul had a conversation with a small importer where he mentioned that he and a friend who made a tiny amount of Champagne, and was looking to bring some in for the restaurant. A partnership was born, and though Paul Baldi had to return to France for visa reasons, we are quite happy that his time in SF led us to this tiny production Champagne. The story of Baldi Pain starts in Champagne of course, but does not follow the traditional flow of land from generation to generation. Benjamin Pain and Paul Baldi are both from the Champagne region and have known each other since childhood, but neither had the advantage of being from wine growing families. So, the traditional route of taking over the family domaine was not in the cards for them. Benjamin after completing school has gone the route of wine production, working in the cellars of a number of growers while Paul (as mentioned above) has worked more in the fine dining sphere.

In 2013, while Benjamin was working at Pehu Simonet, they decided to try their hand at winemaking. David Pehu, Benjamin’s employer at the time, was open and amenable to allowing them to use some space in the cellar for their tiny project. They filled a number of barrels with Pinot Noir from David Pehu’s holdings in a handful of Grand Cru villages and so their project was born. (This is much closer to what we see with winemakers in California versus the norm of Champagne; there is no traditional legal structure for this arrangement. Technically this is Pehu Simonet sold to Baldi Pain.) Pehu has holdings in Verzenay,Verzy, Mailly, Sillery and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, so this was quite an opportunity for two young winemakers. This land was certified organic in 2020, but it will be a number of years before this is reflected on the label. Michael Kennel, D&M