Champagne Jacques Lassaigne "Clos Sainte-Sophie" Blanc de Blancs 2012 - Brut Nature

Classified as belonging to the Cote des Bars region, also known as the Aube, Montgueux is a small chalk hill 12 km north of the historic town. of Troyes. It is described by experts as the Montrachet of Champagne with 186 hectares of vineyards planted 85% with Chardonnay perfectly exposed in a southeast direction. The superficial part of the soil is composed of clay and limestone, while for the next 60 meters a huge blanket of chalk characterizes its conformation. This land has 13 millions of years, much older than the Grand Cru of the most famous (and quoted) Cote de Blancs. All elements that help to create a perfect terroir that gives the wines the the right acidity and sapidity necessary for ageing. Jacques Lassaigne and his two sons Emmanuel and Ludovic are the first true great promoters of the Montgueux terroir, thanks to the their original blanc de blancs, full of minerality and finesse. Emmanuel, who is in charge of the winemaking, cultivates his vineyards with the greatest possible naturalness, following the cycles of the sun and moon and adopting techniques sometimes biological and sometimes biodynamic, with the precise intent of safeguarding the plant and soil. Also in the cellar the interventions are reduced to minimum, a beautiful manual wooden press is used, 4 small deposits for fermentation, a few old 3,000-litre barrels and a series of mostly used barriques. of the best French brands, which are "spun" according to the assemblages of the various cuvee. Only indigenous yeasts are used and the champagne is neither thickened nor clarified. Emmanuel is a fanatic of the winemaking process: each stage must have its own time to be carried out with the utmost care. For example, for the of the "prise de mousse" which normally lasts from 1 to 3 months (this is the moment when the bubbles are formed thanks to the action of the yeasts which ferment the sugar by releasing anhydride carbonic and ethyl alcohol), Emmanuel devotes more than 3 months to the creation of a must with a very fine froth. For some cuvee he even makes two phases of prise de mousse: after the first one the wine is returned to the barrique until it is completely flattened. The final prise de mousse is then made. A technique that in addition to giving perlage and record-breaking finesse promotes a significant reduction in the use of sulphur dioxide. All wines have pretty low dosages so that their terroir of origin can shine. They are also introduced small barriques in order to give complexity and "thickness" to the different cuvee. Emmanuel is a purist methodist always ready to seize every opportunity to improve, refine and increase the quality of all its cuvee, each of which reflects where it comes from.