J. LassalleChigny-les-Roses, Montagne de Reims

Producer profile
PL not in the book or on the website. TyS 7/10 "enchanting champagnes" of "dainty restraint and feminine beauty". Three generations of "delightful women" have "nurtured this immaculate estate" for almost 40 years. The domain spans 60 parcels in premier cru vineyards, with a significant proportion of old parcels. Angéline Templier oversees the winemaking: "I don't want to follow trends, I just want to be respectful of the traditional style of the product we make. The wine we make today is a tribute to my grandfather, and our work in the vineyards looks like the work he did 30 years ago." "Long ageing is inherent to the house style," necessitating a large stock of reserves. Every cuvée undergoes full malolactic fermentation: "I like the roundness of malolactic for our style, and they don't seem to lose freshness, even with long ageing." The wines spend 4 months in 50-year old ceramic tanks after malo and blending, before bottling in April. Dosage is 7/8g: "We make expressive, round wines with malo, rather than being all about minerality and salinity, so we are more traditional and don't want 1-2g of dosage. I'm not having fun when I have a whole glass at 2-3g!" "Don't miss these impeccably crafted cuvées of generous fruit presence, purity, and the most intricately judged balance." ToS 86 Jules Lassalle founded his house in 1942. His wife Olga, daughter Chantal, and granddaughter Angéline continue to run the business. "A house run by females for three generations is a rarity in Champagne. They make deep, long-aged, rich Champagnes from 11 hectares of premier cru vineyards. The Special Club is lovely."

Tasting notes

Special Club 1996. No disgorgement indication. Some floating sediment. Compact ossified cork and alas, only a ghost of effervescence remaining. Would bubbles be impertinent at this age? Remarkably concentrated color, all Baltic amber and Byzantine gold. The flavor carries a suggestion of exoticism like the unfamiliar dried fruit or mysterious fermented pastes from faraway lands. The smell is the real highlight here. Theatrical aromatics! Museum storage and old library stacks. Well-worn parquet of a symphony hall. Dusty sunbeam at an opera house. Traces of powdered rosin in the elbows of the seats, from the bows or from corps de ballet. Good acidity, not lean or wan. Actually pretty dynamic like an old memory leaping forth, freshly sharp and sepia at the same time. It would be an absurd exaggeration to compare this champagne to watching Suzanne Farrell conduct that master class.. but the memory of it did come. Purchased at Catherine's in autumn 2020 for $80. ⭐⭐

Blanc de Blancs 2008. Disgorged on June 1 2018. Fresh clean cork. Good acidity, good balance, no trace of any sort of sherry aftertaste, pleasant mousse, satisfying wine. Very briefly, there is an impression of canned sardines or something in the savory line, not at all unpleasant. Slightly transparent in body and wanting a little more heft from Zalto Bordeaux glass. Not terribly patinated, still quite fresh, even with a green edge. Faintest suggestion of funk from Jancis. Clean and tasty overall but lacking a tiny bit of oomph. Purchased at Gordon's in spring 2021 for $70. ⭐