Description
Wine Details
Vinification/ Aging: Grapes are crushed on a traditional, wooden press, parcel by parcel, the must rests for 12-24 hours to allow the juice to settle, the alcoholic fermentation lasts from 8-10 days, wines go through malolactic fermentation to soften their acidity, the blend of grapes changes every year for every wine, with consideration given to the conditions presented by the vintage, the terroir, and the house style, the non-vintage wines are a blend of all three grape varietals permitted in Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, but the exact breakdown of each is a house secret, secondary fermentation takes place in bottle for 6-8 weeks, bottles are riddled in pupîtres and are adjusted a quarter turn at a time for 6 weeks, bottles are disgorged manually, aged 48 months on the lees before disgorgement, Vintages in the current disgorgement: 2009 and 2010 (as of April 2014). Aged for a minimum of 4 months after blending in enamel lined tanks before bottling.
Alcohol Grade: 12.5%
Best to have it: 7-10ºC
Dosage: 8 g/l
Size: 750 ml
The Winery: J. Lassalle
Champagne J. Lassalle works with all three varietals authorized in the region (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier) on sixteen hectares of vineyards, all of them premier cru. These tough, hardworking women continue to follow the vinification methods established by Jules in the forties: they use the same wooden basket press he installed in the winery over fifty years ago, pressing and vinifying the individual plots separately. It is one of the rare Champagnes that has been allowed to finish its malolactic fermentation, just like the great whites from the Côte d’Or, and all cuvées are aged extensively once in bottle—even the non-vintage cuvées, which are a minimum of five years old. This results in an astonishing complexity and depth from the beginning of their range up to the luxury cuvées. Don’t miss their Blanc de Blancs, sourced uniquely from premier cru Chardonnay grown on the Montagne de Reims. It is a classic vin de terroir that ages beautifully.
