Jean LallementVerzenay, Montagne de Reims

Producer profile
PL "one of the best grower-producers in Verzenay, bottling a small quantity of champagnes from 4 hectares of vines in Verzenay and Verzy. Jean-Luc Lallement "makes four champagnes, blending parcels from both villages, and his wines invariably demonstrate an intense personality, keenly expressing the northern Montagne de Reims in their dark fruit tones, sleek shape, and spicy minerality." "The entry-level Brut can be one of the best nonvintage champagnes in the northern Montagne, but the Cuvée Réserve, selected exclusively from vines that are more than thirty years old, is even more vivid and mineral driven." Réserve Rosé is "excellent, graceful, chalky, and dry." A "complex, refined" vintage Brut is made in "tiny quantities." TyS no mention. ToS "Jean-Luc Lallement uses natural yeast to express the terroir in the first fermentation, and he neither filters his wines nor puts them through cold stabilization - evidence of someone obviously passionate about his Champagne." TT 2019 Champagne catalog page 220 and 2017 catalog page 32.

Tasting notes

Cuvée Réserve. 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay. Disgorged August 21 2018. The color of the wine matches the gilded details of the label really well. Detectable sweetness from the mouth of the bottle, followed by a curious new scent association: fresh fish flesh. A white sea-dwelling kind like the Atlantic cod. Perhaps this is the same "fresh-fish nuance" that TT writes about sometimes, although never for this wine. The flavor is distinctive and unusual: notably prominent, tending sweet, not quite raisin, maybe dried anjeer, plus something from the apothecary. Not sure how I feel about it but points for originality. Good acidity and balance in the finish. TT 2019 Champagne catalog page 221 (compare with 2017, 2016, 2013). Purchased at Peak Beverage in autumn 2020 for $67. ⭐⭐

Millésime 2012. 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay. Disgorged February 14 2019. Mouthwatering and utterly delicious. Richly developed, with wonderful acidity. I'm thinking darkly caramelized baked yogurt. Gorgeous, full-flavored, opulent, decadent, operatic! At the same time - singular in character, not just powerfully impressive but uniquely flavored, too. Beguiling bitterness like in chestnut honey. Exciting wine. TT 2019 Champagne catalog page 221. Purchased at Peak Beverage in autumn 2020 for $98. ⭐⭐⭐