NV Jacques Lassaigne Les Vignes de Montgueux' Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
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Tasting notes
Disgorged by hand for our July 2025 tasting, the most recent release of Lassaigne’s NV Blanc de Blancs Les Vignes de Montgueux is predominantly based on the 2022 vintage, supplemented with reserves from 2021 and 2020. It is vinified exclusively in tank and incorporates 40% purchased fruit—sourced slightly farther afield than Lassaigne’s own holdings but planted entirely to massal-selection Chardonnay. It unfurls in the glass with aromas of pear, peach and spring blossoms, subtly framed by the reductive imprint of its recent disgorgement. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied and concentrated, with a charmingly fleshy mid-palate, girdled by racy acidity and culminating in a long, saline finish. Characteristically, a significant portion derives from the upper section of the estate’s Le Cotet vineyard, planted between 1964 and 1967.
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Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
This release of the NV Champagne Blanc De Blancs Les Vignes De Montgueux Extra Brut, which is based on the 2020 vintage, pours a pale straw color and is fresh and inviting on the nose. Opening to notes of fresh yellow apples, hay, saline, and citrus blossoms, the palate is also spritely and fresh, with a cleansing feel, though not austere. With refreshing acidity and a clean, stony finish, this is a highly attractive wine to enjoy over the next 5-7 years.
100% Chardonnay from vintages 2019, 2020 and 2021. Dosage 0 g/l. Disgorged October 2023. Almost no nose. Quite snippy. Short and sour apples and sauerkraut. A rather severe drink. Perhaps it needs longer in the bottle post-disgorgment. (TC)
Montgueux is a conical hill rising from the plain just west of Troyes; one of Champagne’s anomalous districts on the northern edge of the Côte des Bar or Aube, a good deal south of Champagne central, with vines being planted here only since the 1960s. Emmanuel Lassaigne took over from his father in 1999. More recently he has changed from grower-producer to négociant (NM), buying in about 2 ha (5 acres) to add to the 3.5 ha (8.6 acres) he owns. His own vines are in one east- and south-east-facing 20% incline block and he uses no herbicide or other chemicals and grasses the rows. He relies on natural yeast and buys a yeast culture from Champagne Fleury for the second fermentation. A mix of oak and tanks are used, there is little sulphur, a deliberate lower-pressure mousse (4.5–5 bar) and every champagne here is zero dosage. Of 50,000 bottles per annum, over 50% is exported to 28 countries. This is 100% Chardonnay. 41% 2016, 32% 2015, 27% 2014. First fermentation 1.5 –4 months. Malo done. No fining or filtration. Bottled May 2017. Disgorged November 2018. Dosage 0 g/l. Quite a light nose with some floral hints. Marked acidity. Hint of beeriness. (JR)