“I play with freshness, I need to reveal it, tame it, mature it, but freshness will always be there. We play with it by using reserve wines and ageing to make sure this freshness will be balanced. I am optimistic for this style in the future,” explains Hervé Dantan at the first tasting of Le Black Création.
Time is a crucial element in Champagne. This is as true for the wines as it is for brand relaunches – at least for those who have made fundamental and not just superficial changes. Champagne Lanson is the case in point in more ways than one.
In a clear move to notch the perception of its brut non-vintage upwards, Lanson is re-launching its historic Le Black Label as numbered Le Black Création, counting each year from the foundation of the house in 1760. The current release thus is Lanson Le Black Création 257 – based on the 2017 vintage. Every annual release of this brut non-vintage will now be numbered – so collectors can tell it apart. By the way, I know I am writing about a brut non-vintage wine, but I will come onto that later.
Labelling annual cuvées with running numbers is no longer front-page news – I think Jacquesson started it with the release of its Cuvée 728 based on the 2000 vintage launched in 2004. Krug adopted the practice of numbering its Grande Cuvée with its 163rd edition based on 2007 and released in 2016; Laurent Perrier’s Grand Siècle has also adopted this practice with separate Itérations for each new release. In 2020, Louis Roederer announced that it would replace its Brut Premier with a new multi-vintage wine called Collection, starting with number 241 based on a perpetual reserve started in 2012, released in lockdown-stricken 2020. Its follow-up Collection 242 was launched with much fanfare in 2021.
And now, Lanson follows suit with its Le Black Création and I am happy to report that it is more than a repackaging stunt.
Le Black Label was named for the British market back in 1937, reflecting on the fact that it always has been a Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier-dominated blend. But for the longest time, Lanson’s Le Black Label has flown below the radar: widely distributed, often discounted, with historic brand equity but not exactly creating excitement. This is of little surprise as this grande marque was the subject of rather cruel corporate ping-pong from 1970 onwards. For an ultra-brief period in the early 1990s, Lanson even belonged to LVMH who then re-sold it, with premises and stock but crucially sans vineyards onto a new owner.
Things only calmed when Lanson was bought by the BCC group – uniting names like Philipponnat, Boizel and De Venoge – in 2006. Throughout these fast-lived ownership changes, one man stuck by his wines: long-time cellar master Jean-Paul Gandon. In 2013, his successor Hervé Dantan joined and worked alongside Gandon until his retirement in 2015. But along with Dantan came many changes and much more investment.
Hervé Dantan, London, June 2023 tasting Le Black Création 257
“After 2006, many things were done for Lanson to keep the style, improve the level of quality and since 2013 many investments were made ,” says the understated and almost shy Dantan who notes that they all took a time to come to fruition. Hence the relaunch now.
“This was the right moment to have this new concept for Lanson, because it is the illustration of all the changes we introduced over the last decade, like having new small vats for vinification [for more separate ferments of individual parcels and thus more precise blending options] and oak casks for the ageing of reserve wines. In 2013 we also created two kinds of réserve perpetuelle, one in stainless steel, one in oak.”
“We also increased the amount of vintage wine we keep in reserve, to have a higher level of quality and greater choice of reserve wines. We also introduced an amount of malo-lactic fermentation so now we have about 25% of malo-lactic fermentation in Le Black Création. All these changes are coming on stream now – we thought it was the right moment to show who we are and how we make it by giving all this precise information,” Dantan says.
The idea of numbering and giving precise information on the wines started with a re-design of the back labels about five years ago.
“We gave much information: the percentage of grapes, the percentage of premiers and grands crus, the number of villages, the amount of reserve wines and the harvest base, the date of disgorgement – so we showed much but we wanted to show even more transparency – and all this information is now available on the QR code on the back of the bottle,” says Dantan.
“Now you can see the vintages of the reserve wines used, the percentage of réserve perpetuelle, the percentage of oak, the percentage of malo-lactic fermentation, the different regions where the grapes are from – so much precise information that goes much further than what we used to publish.”
But Dantan wants to make another point – following my questions about the corporate ping pong.
“What has always been important for Lanson, even after LVMH, is that we managed to keep a lot of consistency in the sourcing of our grapes because we had press houses in the vineyards, in Verzenay, Trépail, Dizy [all in the Montagne de Reims] and in Loches-sur-Ource [in the Côtes des Bar]. At Lanson – even with this history – we managed to keep strong relationships and links to the growers. Because when we talk about the consistency of style, we need to talk about the consistency in the vineyard and consistency is also the idea behind Le Black Création 257.”
Dantan notes that freshness is still at the core of the brand – despite the introduction of some malo-lactic fermentation on the previously strictly non-malo-style of the house.
“I play with freshness, I need to reveal it, tame it, mature it, but freshness will always be there. We play with it by using reserve wines and ageing to make sure this freshness will be balanced. I am optimistic for this style in the future.”
To illustrate this freshness, we taste four wines: the latest Le Black Création 257, filtering through to UK retailers this summer, and unlabelled bottles of previous non-vintage blends of Le Black Label – for this tasting called by their sequential numbers: Le Black Création 244 based on the 2004 vintage, Le Black Création 219 based on the 1979 vintage and Le Black Création 200, based on the 1960 vintage.
And this is the second point to make: ‘humble’ non-vintage Champagnes can and do age and gain immensely in the process. In a few years’ time, it will be perfectly possible to show a vertical of various releases of Le Black Création – illustrating evolution and demonstrating freshness – even if you do not have the deep pockets to lay down prestige cuvées. Value in fact, is also at the core of this. Granted, these bottles here were kept in perfect condition in Lanson’s cellar – but if you have the space and the patience, I urge you to age some brut non-vintage Champagnes. You can thank me later.
Champagne Lanson Le Black Création 257
Made with wines from 95 different villages, half of them are premiers and grands crus. The assemblage is 51% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay, 13% Pinot Meunier. The harvest base is 2017 which makes up 55% of the blend with 45% of reserves. These 45% are composed of 19% of separately aged reserves from the vintages 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016; 21% are from the réserve perpetuelle kept in stainless steel and 4% from the réserve perpetuelle kept in oak. 24% of the base wines went through malo-lactic fermentation. The wine spent four years on lees and was disgorged in November 2022 with 8g/l of dosage.
The initial impression is of smokiness and a rather reductive style. The nose then immediately reveals its Pinot Noir dominance with creamy notions of Red Delicious apple and a far crisper, tarter notion of Cox Orange Pippin. Autolysis comes in with both hints of springy, fresh challah. The palate is vividly fresh, the feeling is one of welcome, vivid, bright briskness. The foam is fine, and the crisp, red and green Cox apple notions shimmer with crunch and subtle aroma. The fruit is backed by gentle creaminess and more of that springy, slightly vanilla-scented challah richness. There is a lovely depth of autolysis, again referencing Pinot-fruit and a clean, brisk finish.
Champagne Lanson Le Black Création 244
Based on the 2004 vintage, which Dantan notes is “underrated, overshadowed by 2002 but without dilution, just delicacy.” Its assemblage is 51% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay and 13% Pinot Meunier. It contains 12 % of reserve wines from 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000 and 1999. All malo-lactic fermentation was blocked, it was disgorged in June 2008 with 8g/l of dosage.
The nose is very smoky, very reductive at first; more air reveals notions of post-disgorgement evolution expressed as fresh white field mushrooms, with hints of ripe yet tart Reine Claude plum. More air later brings notions of Viennoiserie with just and edge of cinnamon. The palate is much fresher, brisker than the nose suggests. It is sprightly with brisk, bright acidity, and the fine mousse has started to soften. There is a hint of saltiness and spice reminiscent of maple syrup. This tastes much younger than it is, and for me proves the point that when well-kept, even brut non-vintage deserves a firm place in your cellar. Gorgeously sprightly, tart abut utterly juicy.
Champagne Lanson Le Black Création 219
Based on the 1979 vintage. Its assemblage is 54% Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Meunier. It contains 11% of reserve wines from 1978, 1977 and 1976. There might have been some tiny amount of malo-lactic fermentation. It was disgorged in June 1983 with 11g/l of dosage.
Golden straw colour, an intense and open nose has notions of bottled Mirabelle plum with overtones of passion fruit curd and lemon curd. Evolved notes appear and reappear, taking turns: of caramel and candied lime, of wet chalk, parmesan crisp, chanterelle, and honeycomb. The palate is rather smooth, with dissipating mousse but brilliant freshness that lets those aromatic notions of the nose pass by once again, this time against a backdrop of vivid freshness, clear, straight as an arrow, bright. Clearly, the dosage added the edges of candied fruit, of richness, but they are so clear-cut and precise that it is disarming. Very clean, super-fresh and beautifully coloured with evolution.
Champagne Lanson Le Black Création 200
Based on the 1960 vintage. Its assemblage is 57% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 6% Pinot Meunier. It contains 18% of reserve wines from 1959, 1958 and 1957. There might have been some tiny amount of malo-lactic fermentation. It was disgorged in 1963 with 12g/l of dosage.
The first whiff is like the apricot and sugar glaze on fresh Viennoiserie, morphing into something even richer like lemon-scented white chocolate. Then follows a sonorous and consistent note of toasted and slightly scorched marshmallow. More air brings notions of smoky chalk, still with a gorgeous edge of lime zest citrus. An amazing nose. The palate is a different story: here, rounded ripeness and richness unite everything into candied bliss. Imagine perfect, laser-sharp freshness with candied greengage and lime. The smoky background is as of crushed custard cream biscuit. There are notions of salted caramel. Above all, there is this vivid line of bright acidity, a vein of life and freshness. Striking and unusual and a lesson. The finish is still fresh but delivers long echoes of smoky umami. Simply gorgeous and irresistible in all its complexity. Very long.
Le Black Création 257 is available from Majestic at an RRP of £42.99
