25th April, 2016
by
Patrick Schmitt
The house of Lanson has officially launched its first single-vineyard Champagne, Clos Lanson 2006.
Clos Lanson retails for £160, making it the most expensive Champagne from the house
The new expression, which was initially planned for release at Vinexpo Bordeaux last year, has been unveiled today following eight years ageing on its lees and more than a year resting in Lanson’s cellars post disgorgement.
Speaking to the drinks business in January, Lanson cellar master Hervé Dantan said that he wanted to wait until the wine was in an optimum state before showing it to the trade and press.
“We disgorged Clos Lanson in December 2014 and we thought we would launch it at Vinexpo in 2015, but we decided not to, because we thought that the wine needed to age for a longer period [post disgorgement]; we wanted it to be perfect,” he said.
The wine is a blanc de blancs made from 100% Chardonnay grapes from a one-hectare walled vineyard within the city of Reims alongside Lanson’s winery and headquarters on the Rue de Courlancy.
Hailing from the 2006 harvest, it is the first single vineyard Champagne from the house, and an addition to the range instigated by Philippe Baijot, current CEO and director of Lanson-BCC, after the acquisition of Lanson International by Boizel Chanoine Champagne Group in 2006.
Lanson has made a wine from the small plot every year since the inaugural 2006 vintage, which has produced 7,870 bottles, each of which are numbered, and carry a RRP of £160 (for a 75cl bottle).
Clos Lanson comes with a dosage of 3 grams per litre, making it a Brut Nature, and the new Champagne uses wine fermented in oak casks, a technique now being applied to the brand’s Black Label Brut NV too.
With a suggested retail price of £160, Clos Lanson is the most expensive Champagne in Lanson’s range, almost double the price of its prestige expression called Noble Cuvée, which sells for around £90.
Lanson is currently selling its Noble Cuvée 2000, and will release an expression from the celebrated 2002 vintage in the second half of this year, making Lanson’s release of a prestige cuvée from the 2002 harvest even later than Krug, which unveiled its 2002 in February.