The Methodical Purist: Emmanuel Lassaigne (Champagne Jacques Lassaigne) is Redefining Terroir in Champagne’s Outlying Sub-region Montgueux + Southern Champagne Tapestry: Vincent Couche in Villages Montgueux and Buxeuil

The Methodists were named for a methodical approach to Christianity and the Puritans for a desire to purify it. Although Montgueux’s roots are a bit more pagan (the name means Hill of the Goths), Emmanuel Lassaigne’s angle of approach combines both philosophies, and in doing so, creates the region’s finest Champagne.

As an officially-delineated growing region, Montgueux—a mere fifteen minutes from Troyes—arrived late to the Champagne party; most of the current vines were planted in the 1960s. Among the first to reclaim Montgueux’s once-renowned terroir was Emmanuel Lassaigne’s father Jacques, from whom he took over Champagne Jacques Lassaigne in 1999.

As background notes to his latest project, a renowned two-acre Montgueux vineyard called Clos Saint-Sophie, Emmanuel says: “There were twenty varieties of grapes growing here in the 1880s. The Clos was so well known that Japanese botanists came to study it in 1886 and took a hundred cuttings back with them—the first Vinifera vines to grow in Japan.”

Join us on an exploration of this tiny chalk hill 60 miles south of Épernay, unlike anywhere else in Champagne, led by the tour guide who knows it best, Emmanuel Lassaigne. So in love with Montgueux is Lassaigne that he purchases up to 30% of his grapes from vineyards he does not own simply to present a more unified spectrum of the region’s remarkable terroir.

The Landscape of Champagne: Rethinking the Sub-regions

Classification is a man-made phenomenon; a way of understanding and categorizing a complicated world. Biologists do it, chemists do it, musicologists do it, but no field of study seems more joined at the hip to classification than oenology. Champagne, for example, has typically been subdivided into three major regions—the Montagne de Reims, the Côte des Blancs and the Vallée de la Marne. But, like the platypus who threw a curve ball to biologists as an egg-laying, duck-billed mammal, the classical subdivisions of Champagne ignore a portion of the 84,000 acres legally allowed to wear the Champagne label.

On the other end of the scale, the Comité Champagne (an umbrella organization for both growers and Champagne Houses first formed in 1898 to combat phylloxera) offers its own dizzying classification system, dividing the region in twenty individual sub-regions.

Finding neither taxonomy satisfactory, Champagne writer and former editor of ‘Wine & Spirits’ Peter Liem has found a middle, yet all-inclusive ground with seven named sub-regions—even while admitting that he is courting controversy.

Of the original three divisions, he leaves the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs intact, but argues that Vallée de la Marne should be broken in two to reflect the chalky bedrock of the northeast supporting primarily Pinot Noir and the collection of villages southwest of Épernay (called, unsurprisingly, the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay) where, within a relatively small region, a distinct variety of soils and terroirs can be found. The Côte des Bar is handed to us ‘as is’ since the principal vineyard area of the Aube lies on Kimmeridgian marl, much like its neighbor Chablis.

The most interesting sub-category in Liem’s system is the quartet of Côte de Sézanne, Coteaux du Morin, Vitryat and Montgueux. He groups them together despite their unique but isolated characteristics chiefly because they are areas of new plantings.

• The 1500-acre Côte de Sézanne sits a few miles southeast of Étoge in the Côte des Blancs. Chardonnay accounts for around 75% of the vineyard plantings, but there is a significant amount of Meunier and Pinot Noir. Sézanne wines are known for being among the fruit-forward in the region.

• Contiguous to the vineyards of Sézanne, the Coteaux de Morin forms the northern end of a string of vine-clad hills south of the Côte des Blancs. 2200 acres of vineyard comprise the region; about half is Meunier, 40% Chardonnay and the rest Pinot Noir.

• Vitryat is located in the Côte des Blancs but removed from the main by 25 miles (to the east); this is Chardonnay country, and this variety dominates Vitryat’s 1130 acres of limestone marl to produce elegant wines with a stony minerality unlike the crisper Champagnes that typifies the Côte des Blancs.

• Montgueux, the smallest of the four sub-regions, is made up of 514 acres of chalk, where the vines generally face south along a single hillside. These wines are renowned for their exotic fruit flavors, especially pineapple and mango. According to Emmanuel Lassaigne, “Our south-facing exposure always produces these tropical wines, but the soils are very chalky, so there is a lot of minerality too.”

Chalking Up Differences: Montgueux Rocks

In general, if you chalk up Champagne terroir to chalk, you are close, but like the grapes themselves, there are many flavors of this white, soft porous rock, made from the gradual accumulation of fossilized shells from marine life. The ‘Paris Basin’ is the key geological formation that produces the remarkable terroirs of northern France; a giant limestone bowl that, 75 million years ago, was a shallow sea where eukaryotic organisms lived, died and piled up. A slow tilting of this basin allowed the Seine, Aube, Yonne, and Loire rivers to cut through the rising ridges and form an archipelago of wine areas of which Champagne figures prominently, along with the Loire Valley and Burgundy.

The Campanian chalk that dominates the Côte des Blancs and the Côte de Sézanne is the standard-bearer for Champagne’s terroir, but the chalk in Montgueux and Vitryat, for example, is 13 million years older—deposits from the Turonian Stage.

Montgueux is an outcropping of pure Turonian chalk sitting three hundred feet above the surrounding plains, and although this soft limestone is the predominant mineral presence, small amounts of red clay and flint are also found in the soil—trace elements that allow Montgueux Chardonnay to express a full aromatic palate.

New Plantings: Reviving Historic Terroir in Coteaux du Morin, Côte de Sézanne, Vitryat, and Montgueux

The story of European wine is distinctly bifurcated: Before phylloxera and afterward. Prior to the Great Blight of the eighteenth century, more than 150,000 acres of Champagne were planted to vine. Today, that number is fewer than 90,000 acres. Root-devouring aphids alone did not account for the decline, of course; a couple of World Wars and the subsequent economic implosion played their role. Whatever the cause, in the process, some historically important terroirs were abandoned.

By the 1960’s, a renaissance had begun to find footing among growers, and Champagne vineland that had lain fallow for half a century was slowly replanted. Nowhere was this more in evidence than in Peter Liem’s Big Four—Coteaux du Morin, Côte de Sézanne, Vitryat and Montgueux, which have re-established themselves as important Champagne growing areas. Although there are fewer grower-producers today than in the past (with more growers selling grapes to major Champagne Houses and cooperatives) this leaves a vast opening for pioneers to learn about the varied faces of these long-untapped soils, climates and exposures.

Champagne Jacques Lassaigne
Wine First

If a poster child was needed for the concept of Champagne’s phoenix rising from the flames of phylloxera, no hill is better suited than Montgueux. And in the endeavor, no white knight may be considered more noble than Jacques Lassaigne. With the original intention of selling grapes to négociant houses, he began to bottle still wine in the 1970’s and Champagne in the ‘80s. His first ‘parcellaire’—a term synonymous with ‘lieu-dit’—was from Le Cotet, a plot that Emmanuel still farms today.

Of it, Emmanuel says, “We have a single area of vines between 55 and 60-years old within this individual vineyard, all Chardonnay, making a wine of intense minerality. It sings with citrus acidity in its youth but as it ages, it fattens. It’s another Champagne which must be treated as a white wine with bubbles, serving it (preferably) not too cold in the correct wine glass.”

Emmanuel Lassaigne, Champagne Jacques Lassaigne

From the outset, the Lassaignes relied on organic agriculture, using no synthetics and allowing the rows to grass over, creating competition with the vines—a technique that reduces yields and produces smaller berries, both indispensable factors in creating great wines. But as a Champagne house, they are decidedly not certified organic, for reasons that betray a small secret among French vignerons worth squirreling away: According to Emmanuel, “The French are masters in the art of paper. Many growers (like us) who work without chemicals prefer to remain uncertified because we resent having to deal with the bureaucracy and pay the fees to be certified in something we’ve been doing for years of our own accord.”

The majority of Lassaigne’s current ten acres is planted to Chardonnay, and lie across the street from his home above the valley that lies between Montgueux and Troyes. As mentioned, he annually purchases an additional six acres of grapes from old vines in top terroirs.

Of Clos Sainte-Sophie he says, “It’s the best vineyard in Montgueux.”

Emmanuel Lassaigne, courtesy of Grand Champagne Helsinki

In the cellar, Lassaigne vinifies all parcels separately and (with the exception of ‘Le Cotet’ and ‘Colline Inspirée’) fermentation is done in stainless steel. The initial fermentations are completed with native yeasts while secondary fermentations rely on a commercial, neutral Aube-originated yeast strain that imparts no aroma to the wine and promotes a very long, cool second fermentation—key to developing the prized mousse of which Champagne is justifiably proud. Although Lassaigne uses sulfur minimally at pressing to prevent oxidation, the domain has been disgorging without sulfur for 32 years. He scoffs at oenologists who insist that sulfur is a preventative measure, saying, “We’ve avoided it for more than a quarter century and to date, nothing has gone wrong.”

Emmanuel also disgorges all the bottles himself, by hand, which is an increasingly uncommon practice in Champagne where machine disgorgement has become the norm.

The human touch plays an integral role in every facet of winemaking with which Emmanuel engages. And it’s fitting, since Champagne is one of humanity’s greatest triumphs.

Champagne Jacques Lassaigne ‘Les Vignes de Montgueux’, Montgueux Blanc-de-Blancs Extra-Brut ($79)
True to its name, the grapes in ‘Les Vignes de Montgueux’ come from seven to nine individual sites throughout Montgueux where the age of vines is around 35 years and yields are kept to 60 hectoliter/hectare (Champagne’s average is 66 hl/ha). Harvest is done at maximum ripeness before the grapes are destemmed and pressed. The base wine undergoes complete malolactic fermentation and is aged in new and old barrels for 12 to 24 months. Once bottled, it is held for one to five years until it is disgorged, corked and released.

The wine shows glints of gold in the glass with lovely dried mango and lemon-lime zest in the aromatics. The palate is vibrantly alive with crisp citrus and creamy melon flavors that are backed by a spine of acidity and dazzling minerality. The finish resonates with succulent pineapple and citrus notes and shows the full, expressive panoply of Chardonnay.

2015 Champagne Jacques Lassaigne ‘Millésime’, Montgueux Blanc-de-Blancs Brut-Nature ($169)
2015 vintage: After a wet winter and a mild spring, high temperatures and dry weather prevailed from mid-May until mid-August and the drought conditions produced wines with great concentration if a somewhat rustic tinge.

A blend of three parcels, 80% fermented in stainless steel and 20% in 225-liter foudres for eight months, then on lees for an additional eight years. Disgorged February, 2024 and dosed ‘brut nature,’ meaning less than 3 grams of sugar per liter.

Shows bright lemon, sour apple and pear notes with a touch of creaminess to warm it the shivery acidity and salinity.

Montgueux in Details: Story Told in Parcels

Emmanuel Lassaigne currently farms nearly nine acres of vines, but he also purchases grapes from another six acres so that his wines can represent all facets of Montgueux’s terroir.  He then vinifies each parcel on indigenous yeast in order to preserve their individuality, either in barrel or in stainless steel.

“This allows me a wide palette for blending,” he explains, “even though the final wine is pure Montgueux. My vintage Champagne combines three parcels. The fifty year old vines in Les Grandes Côtes, for example, yield rich, buttery wines. I control the amount I use, but it offers depth and vinosity. Les Paluets makes wines that are sleeker and more elegant. I also have vines in Le Cotet that were planted in 1964. It is very citrussy, contributing freshness to the blend. Each parcel has its own story to tell, and I act as a editor that combines each story into a cohesive collection.”

2017 Champagne Jacques Lassaigne ‘Le Grain de Beauté’, Montgueux ‘Le Cotet/Les Paluets’ Blanc-de-Blancs Brut-Nature ($219)
2017 Vintage: In Champagne, 2017 got off to a promising start with warm, dry conditions through late spring and early summer, hurrying along budburst and flowering. August was universally rainy, though, prompting an outbreak of botrytis. This meant that the harvest had to be carried out quickly and for some producers, it was the shortest on record. Chardonnay tended to be uniformly good and there was also some extremely good Pinot Noir, with Meunier suffering from over-ripeness. Despite these setbacks, the potential for some great Champagnes exists.

From two parcels—Le Cotet and Les Paluets—the grapes were harvested by hand, destemmed, and gently pressed. The wine undergoes complete malolactic fermentation and is aged in barrels for 4 years until it’s bottled. Disgorged á la volée (manually). The wine shows a lovely minerality with dried fruit, citrus zest and melon on the nose.

2018 Champagne Jacques Lassaigne ‘Autour de Minuit’, Montgueux ‘La Voie Creuse’ Blanc-de-Blancs Brut-Nature ($283)
2018 Vintage: An all-around excellent growing season preceded by an extremely wet winter which—albeit by chance—created a brimming water table for the long, hot summer that ensued. Despite some hail storms, the resulting crop was large and abundant; the grapes were mostly picked by hand and continuing good weather meant the harvest could be done at a leisurely pace, with all varieties performing well.

For this cuvée, Lassaigne collects barrels from Jean-François Ganevat formerly used in vin jaune production. The wine spends three years on it lees and is bottled without dosage. The exception balance of purity and tension shows through layers of  creamy peach and lemon meringue.

A Jewel Reclaimed: The Montrachet of Champagne

“Explosively aromatic with notes of lemon peel, pomelo and passion fruit giving way to notes of gingerbread and toast.”

This could easily be mistaken for Montrachet tasting notes, but in fact, it is a description of Champagne from Clos Sainte-Sophie in Montgueux. Sainte-Sophie has a more easterly exposure than many local vineyards, giving the wines a unique structure and remarkable complexity. Under the ownership of the Valton family for the past hundred years, for much of this time, Sainte-Sophie fruit was sold to Charles Heidsieck for premium blends. Today, more and more is being dedicated to single-vineyards wines, especially those of Emmanuel Lassaigne.

Former Charles Heidsieck cellar-master Daniel Thibault confirms the original assessment, saying, “If there is a Montrachet in the Aube, it will be found in Montgueux.”

Montgueux—the ‘hill of the Goths’—is a fairly new region in Champagne, a chalky outcropping that is nearly all planted to Chardonnay, with only about 10% of the vineyard land given over to other varieties. Emmanuel Lassaigne, considered by many to be the finest winemaker in Montgueux, further illuminates the Montrachet-ness of the wines he produces: “Our south-facing exposure always produces rich wines with very ripe flavors; the soil is chalks, so there is always an undercurrent of minerality and notes of mango and tropical fruit.”

2017 Champagne Jacques Lassaigne ‘Clos Sainte-Sophie’, Montgueux’ Blanc-de-Blancs Brut-Nature ($237)
Clos Sainte-Sophie is a unique clos, the only one of the Champagne’s 13 walled vineyards situated in the Aube. Owned by the family behind French undergarment brand Le Petit Bateau, cuttings from the vineyard were used to plant the first wine grapes in Japan in 1877.

Lassaigne reached an agreement with the elderly owner to purchase Sainte-Sophie grapes in 2010. He vinifies the juice for six months in a combination of barrels previously used for Cognac, Savagnin ouillé and Burgundy. The juice is then blended in tank for 2 months and bottled in the spring of the following vintage before spending six years on the lees in bottle. It shows bright beams of acidity balanced by caramel cream and lemon/lime acidity.

2016 Champagne Jacques Lassaigne ‘Clos Sainte-Sophie’, Montgueux Blanc-de-Blancs Brut-Nature ($237)
2016 Vintage: 2016 was tricky, with merciless April frosts devastating yields and in some cases wiping out entire crops. The weather continued to frustrate growers with heavy rains from May through to July, encouraging mildew and rot to further reduce yields. Warm, dry weather finally arrived in July and temperatures continued to creep up, with August reaching blistering highs that caused some grapes to suffer from burns. The harvest was down by roughly a third and smaller, more flexible producers like Emmanuel Lassaigne generally fared better than larger, more regimented houses.

The wine is 100% Chardonnay, disgorged March 2022, and bottled with zero dosage. It expresses Lassaigne’s characteristic intense aromatics and chalky notes along with pronounced acidity, a touch of meadow flowers, brioche and fleur de sel.

Southern Champagne Tapestry
Blending Villages Montgueux (Aube) and  Buxeuil (Côte-des-Bar)

‘Aube’ translates to ‘dawn’, so it is fitting that this district is Champagne’s rising star. In part this is because of the district’s push towards a culture of artisanal, experimental, terroir-driven Champagne. Situated further south than the other four regions, it is less prone to frost and the Pinot Noirs of the Aube are rich and fruit-driven. Although the district is devoid of Grand or Premier Cru vineyards, since the 1950s, grapes grown there have formed a vital backbone of the blend produced by many of the top Champagne houses.

Perhaps the lack of a historical reputation means that the AOP has less to lose, but the overall mindset of the region encourages mavericks, which in tradition-heavy Champagne is rarely seen. It is these independent winemakers that are primarily responsible for district’s mushrooming growth, which now makes up almost a quarter of the entire Champagne region.

Since the Côte des Bars is the Aube’s only significant wine producing area, the two names are generally interchangeable in winemaking discussions; the vines of the Côte des Bar can be found scattered patches within two main districts, the Barséquenais, centered on Bar-sur-Seine, and the Barsuraubois, centered on Bar-sur-Aube.

Helping to forge the region’s new identity is a crew of younger grower/producers, many of whom have traveled abroad and trained in other winemaking regions. As a result, they tend to focus more on individuality; single-variety, single-vintage, and single-vineyard Champagnes from the Côte des Bar are quite common. Not only that, but land remains relatively inexpensive, which encourages experimentation. Even though many of Côte des Bar’s Champagnes are 100% Pinot Noir, styles can differ markedly from producer to producer, bottling to bottling and, of course, vintage to vintage.

Champagne Vincent Couche

The distance between Reims and Chablis is about two hundred miles and Vincent Couche’s approach to Champagne is more in line with traditional Burgundian thought and practices than many cellar masters: He farms small parcels kept separate with high-density plantings and focuses on wines of terroir rather than wines that are blended to a formula.

The fact that his properties are in the south of Champagne gives him a unique ability to explore the terroirs of this gently rolling terrain, where it is a touch warmer than the Marne, although it’s less centered on a major river system. He is enamored of ripeness, giving his cuvées their signature depth and complexity. In Chardonnay, extra hang-time (especially in a warmer growing season) produces luscious notes of nectarine and ripe pear while for Pinot Noir grapes the same conditions develop nuances of preserved cherry, fig and cocoa.

Aiming to Recreate Ideal Conditions for Harmonious Biodiversity and Precise Balance

Vincent Couche has been thinking about vines since he was eight years old. By early adulthood he was able to turn that fascination into a career, studying enology in Beaune and taking on several intern positions in Switzerland and Germany before founding his Champagne house in 1996. His current acreage of vines is split between two unique terroirs: Seven acres of Chardonnay in Montgueux and 25 acres of Pinot Noir in Buxeuil, where the parcels mostly face south and west on steep slopes overlooking the Seine.

Vincent Couche

“To succeed in winemaking, you must combine a respect for the land to an attachment to ancestral know-how, close to nature. You must excel as a craftsman who leaves no detail untouched, from the soils that produce the fruit vats and storage places, including the bottles. Everything is carefully chosen with the sole aim of obtaining high-end quality.”

His love of nature translated into a meeting with agricultural engineers in 1998 that prompted him to switch to organic and biodynamic cultivation in 1998. His estate was Demeter certified in 2011.

“Earth friendly winemaking as a philosophy is having a moment right now,” Vincent declares. “We pick grapes by taste and touch, and generally harvest over a week after our neighbors in both Montgueux. We are after higher levels of ripeness than is the norm.”

Couche is also a master at producing ratafia—a cordials made by the maceration of ingredients such as aromatic fruits and nuts in pre-distilled spirits, followed by filtration and sweetening.

Champagne Vincent Couche ‘Chardonnay de Montgueux’, Montgueux Brut-Nature ($75)
2012 is used as the base year with a 2019 disgorgement and zero dosage; eight years on lees has produced a lovely baker’s aroma with yeast and dried green apple on the nose with lean tart lemon and a very fine mousse.

2014 Champagne Vincent Couche ‘Champagne de Buxeuil’, Côte-des-Bar ‘Buxeuil’ Extra-Brut ($99)
2014 Vintage: A warm, dry spring meant the growing season got off to a healthy start with successful budburst and flowering while the absence of severe frost gave producers cause for optimism. Summer dashed these original hopes with a rainy June and July and an August that did not dry out until midway through. Then a benign September brought warm, dry conditions ripening the grapes and effectively saving the harvest and the resulting crop, although not exceptional, was generally very good.

37% Chardonnay, 63% Pinot Noir. Disgorged in December 2021 and dosed at 4 gram/liter. The predominance of Pinot shows in dried cherry aromatics; the Chardonnay shines through with the beautiful chalky freshness with notes of warm pastry.

10,562 bottles and 912 magnum produced.

Champagne Vincent Couche ‘Élégance’, Montgueux+Buxeuil Extra-Brut ($56)
84% Pinot Noir and 16% Chardonnay, disgorged in February, 2022. The Pinot is grown in Buxeuil’s Kimmeridgian limestone and the Chardonnay in clay and silex from Montgueux. The wine spends three years on lees before disgorgement and dosed with zero sugar. It shows vibrant high-acid roundness with crunchy pear, raspberry, and golden delicious apple fruit and a kiss of brioche from the yeast.

5000 cases produced.

2002 Champagne Vincent Couche ‘Sensation’, Montgueux+Buxeuil Brut-Nature ($153)
2002 Vintage: A sensational vintage! The preceding winter was cold and frosty and moved slowly towards a late spring. However, when it did arrive, spring was ideal, allowing for a successful flowering. Summer brought a succession of dry, sunny days that vintners dream about, ripening but not burning the grapes. Harvest was leisurely and the resulting wines were beautifully balanced and opulent with sharp acidity—ideal for cellar aging.

Half Pinot Noir and half Chardonnay, aged four months on lees and a full twenty years on lees in the bottle before disgorging in May, 2022. Dosed at zero. The wine shows hints of lime oil and orange blossom on the nose while the palate is full, complex with notes of pear and apple. The acidy remains alive and well despite the years in the bottle with enormous, mineral-driven length.

950 cases produced.

2000 Champagne Vincent Couche ‘Sensation – Dégorgement Tardif’, Montgueux+Buxeuil Extra-Brut ($368) 1.5 Liter
2000 Vintage: To kick off the 2000 growing season, spring was dry, but both June and July saw bouts of hail which caused considerable damage to certain vineyard plots. A warm August brought plenty of sunshine which lasted through to the September harvest. Overall, the wines were a touch low in acid but had good fruit, body and structure and some great wines were made.

‘Dégorgement Tardif’ is a Champagne term that signifies a late removal of dead yeast cells (lees) from the bottle, resulting in a wine with a richer, more complex character. 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay, this beautifully aged Champagne was disgorged in May, 2021 and displays fine, well-integrated bubbles mingling with notes of dried stone fruit, Meyer lemon, honeyed apple, crushed chalk and toasted brioche.

450 cases produced.

Champagne Vincent Couche ‘Rosé Désir’ Montgueux+Buxeuil Brut-Nature Rosé ($62)
95% Pinot Noir and 5% Chardonnay, this cuvée relies on blending three rosé style—carbonic, traditionally extracted, macerate fruit and some direct press. It spends a year in fût, three years on the lees before being disgorged and bottled unfiltered with zero dosage. The wine boasts a radiant nose of red berries against glimmers of spiced biscotti and roasted cashew. A silken palate of black cherry underlined by blood-orange rind before a long voluptuous finish.

600 cases produced.
 

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Posted on 2025.04.01 in France, Champagne, Wine-Aid Packages