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Champagne Lanson Clos Lanson 2006
Champagne, FranceClos Lanson is the kind of wine you dream about tasting once you have immersed yourself into the notion that wine is something that comes from a place. Opposite Notre Dame de Reims Cathedral lies a one hectare plot of chardonnay vines protected by a high stone ‘clos’, or wall, that dates to the 18th century. Clos Lanson sits at the top the hill where the house of Lanson and its wine cellars are located. The vineyard (vines are 35 to 50-years-old) is considered the family garden and it’s cared for as if their life depended upon its production. Each year everyone who works at Lanson helps harvest the precious plot, selecting the absolute best bunches to make up Clos Lanson Champagne. This label is one hundred percent chardonnay, one hundred percent organic, and one hundred percent delicious. The no malo 2006 is brilliant…in the glass and on the palate. You might expect a richer style from within the warm environment of a steep walled clos but like all the Lanson fizz, it relies on bright acidity combined with salinity and minerality from the chalky soils to support its generous chardonnay fruit. Lanson has been experimenting with oak casks for a while and it began with 225 litre oak casks for the fermentation of this single vineyard Clos de Lanson. It was the forerunner of a new parcel by parcel experimental approach for both fermenting wines, and ageing reserve wines. The hope is that these methods used in lesser amounts will increase complexity at Lanson, as opposed to weight or heft. The wine is the initiative of Philippe Baijot, CEO and director of Lanson-BCC (Boizel Chanoine Champagne Group) and honours long-time winemaker Jean-Paul Gandon. Now retired, Gandon made a Clos Chandon every year since 2006, finally released in 2016. The juice, which comes exclusively from the first pressing, is vinified for several months in oak barrels. After a decade of ageing, new chief winemaker Hervé Dantan released the 7,870 bottles of Clos Lanson 2006. You will have to look for this at very select retailers in the US or the finest restaurants.Tasted: 09 December 2017Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:| US | $200.00 | 750ml | estimated retail |
Grape: Chardonnay
