Ratafia is Champagne's old house drink, made by stopping fresh grape juice with grape spirit so it never ferments, and this one is Edmond Mousse's recipe, kept in the family since he took over the estate in 1947. It is 100% Meunier from the green clay of Cuisles, aged two years in barrel, and lands around eighteen percent alcohol, sweet but carried by the grape's natural acidity rather than smothered by sugar. Growers in the Marne have made this for their own tables for generations and almost none of it leaves the region, so it is a rare thing to find on a shelf in New York. Serve it cold in a small glass, before dinner or well after it.
