What Mom Really Wants: Champagne

As I criss-cross Champagne this spring, one theme keeps popping up: 2024 is shaping up beautifully in the cellar—but we collectors can’t drink futures on Mother’s Day. So I’ve pulled together bottles that are ready to thrill right now. First up is the crown jewel of my 25-year buying career, the transcendent 2008 Louis Roederer “Cristal”—direct from the maison and showing every bit of its triple-digit pedigree. I’ll also share notes from the Kimmeridgian soils of Les Riceys with Vivien Lamoureux and give you a sneak peek at Alexandre Le Brun’s rain-soaked yet dazzling 2024 vins clairs. Finally, because brunch without pink bubbles is just breakfast, I’ve hand-picked six rosé Champagnes that deliver serious finesse and pure festive joy. Grab a glass and dive in—there’s plenty to celebrate.

• 2008 Cristal: The Best of the Best for Mom
• Touring Champagne at the Burgundy Border with Lamoureux
• Visiting Alexandre Le Brun and Getting Excited for the 2024s from Champagne
• Our Very Top Rosé Bubbles for Mother's Day Brunch

This Mother’s Day, if you feel like a splurge, we have something incredible in stock for you: a wine that comes from the best vintage of my 25-year career buying Champagne at K&L, and one of the very top wines from that vintage. I am talking about the 2008 Louis Roederer "Cristal" Brut Champagne (direct from Roederer 2025) $449.99. This wine has absolutely perfect provenance, coming direct from Roederer through their wholly owned import company, MMD. With multiple 100- and 99-point scores from the press, I am not alone in liking it—it is simply as good as Champagne gets. Learn more about what makes this Champagne so special here.

All my French friends always ask me if I am going to the south of France on my trip. I tell them yes—I am going to Les Riceys! It is just three miles away from the northern border with Burgundy and shares the same soil found in Chablis: the famous Kimmeridgian clay. Not only is the soil different from the chalk of the Marne, so is the climate—here it is far more continental, with colder winters and warmer summers. Luckily today was picture-perfect French spring weather, and I hope that I’ll just be carrying around my winter clothes and not wrapping up in them.

Today I toured the vineyards and tasted the wines of my friend Vivien Lamoureux, whom we have been importing for 10 years. He even gave me a pruning lesson! It was great to see him. He took me to the parcel where he grows his almost two acres of Pinot Blanc, and we pruned a bit of Pinot Noir next to it. We also tasted the whole range, including his surprisingly delicious 2020 “Florine,” which is half-and-half Pinot Noir from the old vines that we pruned and Chardonnay from the Alexandrine plot a kilometer up the road. Read more about the trip here.

Every time I go to the picturesque, hilltop town of Monthelon to visit Alex Le Brun, he wears his Giants gear, and it makes me feel so welcome. We looked in the vineyards, tasted his 2024 vin clair (the still wine before the second fermentation in the bottle), and sampled both current and upcoming releases. It was the best part of my day!

He told me the 2024 growing season was l’enfer—a hellish amount of work for him. He couldn’t take a weekend off or even a short break because the constant rain threatened mildew and botrytis. He did the work, and he got the reward: the 2024s we tasted reminded me a lot of the 2002s I tasted so many years ago from tank. It is going to be a very good year for quality, even if it wasn’t easy. Read more about my love for this compelling project here.

Whether you’re pouring for an elegant brunch spread or a simple breakfast-in-bed, these six rosé Champagnes deliver the color, freshness, and finely etched fruit that make Mother’s Day feel truly celebratory. From grower gems like Aspasie and Dérot-Delugny to icons such as Billecart-Salmon and Laurent-Perrier, every bottle on this short list offers pinpoint balance and food-friendly charm—proof that pink bubbles can be both serious and seriously fun.