Based in Dizy, to the north of Epernay, and founded in 1798, Jacquesson is the oldest independent Champagne house and reputedly a favourite of Napoleon. It is now without doubt one of the elite houses in Champagne. Biodynamic farming and minimal handling, along with low dosage and extended bottle ageing, result in powerful wines of naked purity and brilliance.
Base harvest 2013. A very cold and snowy winter, with the weather remaining cold and damp well into spring, causing delayed flowering, coulure and millerandage. However, August and September compensated with warm and dry conditions leading to a late but excellent harvest.
“The Cuvée No. 741, based on the 2013 vintage, is quite pretty. Complex, nuanced and multi-dimensional in feel, the 741 is beautifully layered in the glass. In this release, the Pinot Noir is especially expressive and gives the wine a measure of textural breadth that is unusual for a young 700-series Champagne. Soft contours and a host of toasty, resonant flavors give the 741 its distinctive feel. Best of all, the 741 will drink well upon release. Disgorged June 2017. Dosage is 2.5 grams per liter.” – Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, July 2018. 93 points.
Based on 2009 vintage. After a cold and dry winter, the spring was mild but with plenty of rain. Luckily, the summer was warm and dry, and this extended to the end of the growing period. The grapes were in excellent condition with a maturity only seen in the best years. 90 months on the lees under cork. Disgorged November 2017, dosage 2.5 g/l.
“The Cuvée No. 737 Dégorgement Tardif shows all the radiance and suppleness of the base 2009 vintage. Racy, silky and polished, with plenty of near-term appeal, the 737 is a gorgeous Champagne to drink now and over the next handful of years. Expressive orchard fruit, mint and white pepper notes are nicely pushed into the foreground. This is the first vintage that is aged on the cork.” – Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, July 2018. 92+ points.
Based in Dizy, to the north of Epernay, and founded in 1798, Jacquesson is the oldest independent Champagne house and reputedly a favourite of Napoleon. Beginning in the 1990s, current owners Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet embarked upon a terroir-based philosophy. It is now without doubt one of the elite houses in Champagne. Biodynamic farming and minimal handling, along with low dosage and extended bottle ageing, result in powerful wines of naked purity and brilliance.
In 2000, the production of a blended Brut NV ceased. In a region where consistency is prized above all else, Laurent and Jean-Hervé made a radical choice: expression of terroir over homogeneity. They chose to emphasise the qualities of each vintage by lowering the amount of reserve wines used in the blend. The result is the 700 series, beginning with Cuvée 728 in 2000. Based on a majority of chardonnay, with varying proportions of pinot noir and meunier, this wine accounts for about 95% of production. Small quantities of vintage single vineyard wines are made only in certain years.
About 80% of the vineyards are estate-owned. As vineyard sources essentially remain the same from year to year, coming from two premier cru and three grand cru-rated communes in the Côtes des Blancs and La Grande Vallée de la Marne, it is probably more accurate to view Cuvée 700 as a vineyard style rather than a house style.
Regardless of the ultimate bottling, all wines are treated the same. After gentle pressing, the free-run juice is fed by gravity to a series of stainless steel tanks for 24 hours of settling, then transferred to large, neutral oak casks for alcoholic and malolactic fermentations. Malolactic is never blocked, as sulphur additions are kept to a minimum. Instead a reductive environment is created with weekly lees stirring that also adds richness and texture to the wine. The wines are blended and bottled unfiltered after one year of ageing, with an additional 4 years on lees for the Cuvée 700 wines and 9 years for the Cuvée 700 Dégorgement Tardif. Dosage is in the extra-brut range of 1-6g per litre.