Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Les Vignes de Montgueux Blanc de Blancs Brut (NV)
Varietals : Chardonnay.
Farming : Organic.
Viticulture : Each of Lassaigne's parcels are farmed organically with extra emphasis placed on picking at optimum
ripeness.
Vinification : The grapes are harvested by hand at maximum ripeness, destemmed and lightly pressed. Fermentation occurs in stainless steel. Only native yeast is used. Malolactic completes naturally. The domaine has been disgorging
by hand and without sulfur for 32 years.
Aging : The wine rests sur lie for at least two years and bottled with no dosage.
Jacques Lassaigne is a 4.7 hectare family vineyard located in Montgueux. The vineyards boast prime southeastern exposure & consist primarily of Chardonnay vines (94%) & the rest is made up of Pinot Noir (6%). The Montgueux
vineyard sites were originally held for the Montrachet of Champagne & are located near the gates of Troyes—the former capital of Champagne. The terroir in Montgueux is nearly identical to the growing sites found further north in le Mesnil, as they share the same limestone vain —this is exceptional terroir for making great champagne. The non-vintage Blanc de Blanc is a blend of nine different vineyard sites & two successive vintages.
Emmanuel Lassaigne, Jacques’ son who now runs the vineyard, began working the vines in 1999, and made the bold decision to craft wines from individual parcels. At the time his local neighbors thought him a fool and didn’t understand the method behind his madness. Emmanuel makes all the important decisions with the wine virtually alone, and experiments boldly in ways that baffle us with their courageousness, for when he decides to make a change, he isn’t able to fully realize the results of that change for another 3-4 years.
The initial tank or barrel fermentations of all Emmanuel’s wine is carried out with only indigenous yeast. He sulfurs minimally at press to prevent oxidation, and then never adds any sulfur again. Emmanuel disgorges all the bottles by hand himself, a very uncommon practice in Champagne, where machine disgorgement is the norm. He developed this technique so he wouldn’t have to top up the bottles after disgorgement.