Gatinois, Champagne Brut Tradition (Base 2022), NV

Aÿ in a glass — and that means Pinot Noir at full muscle. The Gatinois family has worked Grand Cru vineyards in this historic village since the 1600s, and twelfth-generation Louis Cheval-Gatinois continues to sell a sizable share of the harvest to neighbor Bollinger before bottling the rest under his own label. The Brut Tradition is the family's calling card: a base of the warm 2022 vintage, 80% Pinot Noir from estate parcels in Aÿ rounded out by 20% Chardonnay, aged a minimum of two years on the lees. Expect the broad-shouldered, red-fruited, almost still-wine intensity that makes Aÿ Pinot the stuff growers and houses fight over. Serious grower Champagne at a price that still feels honest.