NV Lanson Rose Label
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Tasting notes
Fruity and primary up front, the NV Champagne Le Rosé pours a pale salmon with an orange tinge, which they achieve with the addition of 7% red wine from the villages of Bouzy and Les Riceys. Offering attractive aromas of orange zest, nectarine, and white strawberry, it’s medium-bodied and has a rounded mid-palate, with a supple mousse, a juicy and fresh style, and a floral flourish on the finish. This is a very charming and versatile rosé to enjoy now or over the coming 6-8 years. Cellar master Hervé Dantan took over in 2013 and is the third generation in his family of winegrowers. In addition to working and studying in Champagne, Mr. Dantan also spent time in Burgundy and at Gloria Ferrer in Sonoma. Historically, the winery entirely blocked malolactic fermentation, but they’re no longer dogmatic about it, although they continue to strive for a crispy style. Since Hervé’s arrival, they have worked to create a vineyard team and are moving to becoming certified sustainable and using organic practices whenever possible. They work with 400 different partners in the vineyards. The vineyard La Clos de Lanson in Reims is the only urban clos in the region and is a single hectare planted to Chardonnay. It’s the only parcel that’s fermented in barrel, and the latest release is the 2007 vintage. The vintage bottlings are produced from Grand Cru and Premier Cru sites, with the prestige cuvées consisting entirely of Grand Cru. Structural developments include a barrel room built in 2015 and a new press house in Verzenay that opened last year. The press house is also the home of a new future clos currently of young vines facing the landmark windmill of the village. With this year’s releases, Dantan and the team are working to show more transparency in their labeling, beginning with the Black Label. Consumers will find that there is now a “Creation” number added to the label, with this year’s release called Creation 257, as it is the 257th release. For future releases, the numbers will move forward sequentially.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
53% Pinot Noir, 32% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier. Base wine 2018 with 27% reserve wines containing 100 different crus, of which half are either premiers or grands crus. Disgorged February 2023 after four years on lees, dosage 8 g/l. Pale orange! Pure strawberry aroma suggests this is going to be really fruity and friendly but the acidity is very marked indeed. The Lanson no-malo policy is presumably in effect here. Very aggressive mousse at the moment. I note that the Rosé described on their website is three years older so perhaps this is a very recent release. This may be more charming in the future. (JR)
Based on the 2014 vintage and disgorged in December 2019 with eight grams per liter dosage, Lanson's NV Brut Le Rosé is showing nicely, offering up aromas of peach, crisp orchard fruit, pink grapefruit and warm brioche. Medium to full-bodied, chiseled and incisive, with a racy spine of acidity and a pretty pinpoint mousse, it concludes with a saline finish. This is quite tightly wound out of the gates, and I suspect it possesses a bit of upside.