Lassalle et Filles Brut NV

Profile & Story

Champagne J. Lassalle is a family-run house founded in 1942 in Chigny-les-Roses, in the heart of the Montagne de Reims, by Jules and Olga Lassalle. After Jules died in 1982, his wife Olga and daughter Chantal took over the house; Chantal's daughter Angeline Templier joined as winemaker in 2006, making it three generations of women at the helm. The house farms 16 hectares across seven Premier and Grand Cru villages (Chigny-les-Roses, Ludes, Montbre, Puisieulx, Rilly-la-Montagne, Sermiers and Villers-Allerand), producing about 150,000 bottles a year from vines averaging 35-55 years old, farmed with sustainable, reasoned viticulture (lutte raisonnee). Cuvee Preference, the anchor of the house style, blends 60% Meunier, 20% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir from parcels in Chigny-les-Roses, Rilly-la-Montagne, Villers-Allerand and Ludes, built on roughly 40% reserve wine. It is hand-harvested, tank-fermented with full malolactic conversion, aged 8-10 months in tank before bottling, then rests a further 3-4 years on lees before disgorgement (about 4 months ahead of shipping), finished at a dosage of about 8g/L.