Black Réserve, the newest non-vintage champagne by Lanson, has gained a gold medal on the worldwide wine competitors Mundus Vini held in August 2021.
This wonderful cuvée has obtained 96 factors from Wine Fans in 2020, one thing fairly uncommon for a “common” (aka non-préstige) brut non-vintage champagne.
I had the pleasure to style the brand new Lanson Black Réserve champagne with Chef de Cave Hervé Dantan through the summer time of 2020 and, properly, spot on!
Hervé created this new cuvée on his arrival at Lanson in 2013 so as to add to the revised vary of champagnes a gastronomic wine that may mix freshness, complexity, and fulness.
What I discovered was a Balck Label on steroids. A superb one!
After I first seemed on the bottle, I doubted it could possibly be a re-labeled Additional Age Brut–an excellent champagne that I cherished and that Lanson determined to discontinue–provided that the (stunning) bottles are the identical. Disgrace on me for considering unwell, as a result of it isn’t.
It’s somewhat the sublimation of the Black Label cuvée, through higher grapes, longer getting older, and lesser dosage. The assemblage is certainly the identical when it comes to grapes, however right here there’s a higher portion of grands and premiers crus, making up nearly all of this sensible cuvée. And the quantity of reserve wines it’s even greater than in Black Label.
Lanson Black Réserve Technical Particulars
Mix
Crus: 100 totally different crus, of which 70% of grands and premiers crus
Pinot Noir: 50%, together with Vernzenay and Bouzy
Chardonnay: 35%, inclduing Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Trépail and Villers-Marmery
Pinot Meunier: 15%
Reserve wines: 45%, of which some aged in oak casks
Ageing: 5 years (base 2014)
Dosage: 5-7 g/l
Tasting Notes
Eye: fascinating deep yellow
Nostril: stunning honey notes, which made me suspect a due generosity within the wine. Pears, almonds, biscuits, gentle spices and licorice. Woooooo….
Palate: A lot richness for a comparatively younger champagne, however held in line by the marked crispness given by the avoidance of malolactic fermentation within the majority of the wines used. Nicely matured white fruits and citruses floor, adopted by a wealthy and concurrently crisp end typical of the distinctive Lanson type. This wine has a number of power, that Hervé calls peps.
Meals: given its shocking richness for its age–with none hints of oxidation–and its distinctive freshness, I see it very properly with meals that deliver these two parts in an identical means. For instance a Blanquette de veau with the additional peps of some lemon in it. Perhaps even higher, this dish used as a sauce for a pasta that can deliver the creamy texture of the starch.
All in all, to me Black Réserve is a good BSA that I embrace among the many greatest champagnes on this class. Merci Lanson.
