Where Chablis Meets Champagne

Everything takes longer during these long pandemic days. The excellent bottle of 2012 Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Alexandrine" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne that Cinnamon and I drank last night I had ordered on March 2nd of this year. It was a different world back then! Given that this wine has taken eight years from harvest to market, the five months is a small change, I suppose. It would have gone faster if I hadn’t been like a child at the mailbox waiting for it!

This wine is truly rare number. While the soil in Les Riceys, one of the southernmost villages in the Aube department, is the same Kimmeridgian clay that one finds in Chablis, the climate is just that little bit more extreme. Les Riceys is only three miles from the border with Burgundy, but spring frost risk is much higher here, and Chardonnay can only be planted on sites that avoid that frost. The Alexandrine plot is one of these. At over 900 feet of elevation, it is the highest vineyard in Les Riceys, and the southeast exposure allows the morning sun to warm the vines at the most dangerous moment. At the same time, the steep, prominent hillside drains the cold air into the valley below. Vivien Lamoureux’s great grandfather first planted this plot in 1947, but the vines were replanted twenty years ago, giving us a rare glimpse of pure Chardonnay on Kimmeridgian soil in Champagne.

Cinnamon prepared a light summer meal to accompany this unique blanc de blancs, steamed baby squash and zucchini with pancetta over lemon ricotta ravioli. The combination was quite good, and we felt like we were really living it up on a Tuesday night. The wine had a subtle aroma but nevertheless complex with bread dough, cream, and that clean earthy smell that one usually only ever finds in Chablis. In the mouth, the wine was lovely and light, but the back end was surprisingly concentrated. I found a touch of young brie flavor matched by the lemon drive and clean minerality on the long finish.

As this is single-vineyard Champagne, Vivien did not have much for us- only 240 bottles for the US. If you are interested in discovering the border of Champagne and Chablis, this 2012 will be here until it is gone!

 A toast to you,

Gary Westby