The uncrowned Master of epic visits. The Monsieur of Montgueux. A sarcastic, generous man with a military past and industrial manager background. A guy I love as a winemaker. In Champagne, Emmanuel Lassaigne is one of my brightest stars. He makes stellar wines on the Montgueux hill – as naturally as possible.

I still remember meeting Manu Lassaigne for the first time in April 2015, after (ever-growing) Le Printemps des Champagnes tasting week. After several days of tasting craze in Reims & Épernay, we visited Champagne Jacques Lassaigne on my way to judge at Le Concours des Vins du Canton des Riceys.

FIrst impressions, April 2015

On a hot spring afternoon, our Finnish group arrives in Montgueux half an hour too early. While walking up the winding road, we pass a tractor on a vineyard. The driver hops off to greet us. A fast-moving, smiling farmer with a sharp, strikingly intense gaze.

From that very first gaze, I get the gut feeling we’ll get along. But I have no idea yet that I would become a regular visitor in Montgueux.

As the afternoon at Champagne Jacques Lassaigne goes on, I notice that Emmanuel’s alleged reputation as a complex, buttoned-up person has nothing to do with reality.

He may not belong to any popular winemaker group, nor does he fancy big crowds, but he is easy to socialise with. Direct and sincere, Emmanuel Lassaigne strives to make Montgueux famous, not himself, yet the paradox is that whether he wants it or not, he is.

Our 7-hour, 16-bottle visit ends up at Aux Crieurs de Vin, the hotspot to enjoy grower champagne and natural wine in the nearby city of Troyes. At 2:30 am we say goodnight to Manu. As he inhales the last puff of his cigarette, I already know I’d be back soon.

Authentic champagnes

”I am a simple man and do just what I have to.”

Emmanuel’s favourite sentence tells it all. He lets his champagnes speak for themselves by crafting them as naturally as possible: NO to herbicides and pesticides, YES to wild yeasts and minimal dosage, NO to filtration or cold-stabilisation.

I dislike the term non-vintage (as every champagne IS made of grapes from certain vintage/s), but anyway I often call Les Vignes de Montgueux as one of my favourite NV champagnes. Still extra-brut (= up to 6 grams of added sugar per litre) written on the label, nowadays Les Vignes is non-dosé.

Beautifully vinous, zesty blanc de blancs has so much ripe, salty lemon vibe that I could easily finish the whole bottle without food. SO pure to drink! And as intense as the man behind it.

Le Cotet, my favourite from Lassaigne’s non-vintage champagnes, comes from a tiny East-facing single vineyard on the Eastern side of the village, planted in the mid-1960s. Nicely available across Paris – thanks to Manu’s persistent efforts years ago to make his wines known in the French capital – one should always make sure to have it on stock.

Does oak do the trick?

To be honest, at first I had slight difficulties with La Colline Inspirée. Despite my fondness for artfully oaked champagnes, it wasn’t my favourite in the Lassaigne range. Perhaps I felt the sublime Chardonnay of Montgueux was way too delicious to be ”masked” so clearly with oak?

The recent releases, though, have been fabulous.

Among the new Champagne Jacques Lassaigne releases, my favourites are Coteaux Champenois Haut Revers du Chutat and Autour de Minuit. Both difficult to find due to their minuscule production, so if you happen to bump to them, don’t hesitate!

The white Coteaux (2010) is a Burgundian stunner whereas the latter, aged in vin jaune and cognac barrels, seduces you with peculiar yet irresistible aromas of Panang curry and Satay sauce. One of the wildest champagnes I have ever tasted.

I could probably write lines and lines of Lassaigne’s wines, but since this blog is rather about stories than detailed tasting notes, I just recommend you to try them – with an open mind.

Aube, Southern star of Champagne

Recently, I have developed a serious crush on champagnes of the Aube region. However, it is good to remember that although Montgueux belongs to the Aube department, geographically it is nearly as far from Côte des Bar (the heartlands of the Aube) as from Côte de Sezanne (a charming and quiet sub-region of Champagne south of Côte des Blancs).

In fact, the chalky soil of Montgueux is very similar to Côte des Blancs, yet millions years older.

Another difference? Unlike the Pinot Noir dominated Côte des Bar region, the hill of Montgueux is planted with Chardonnay.

Third, the growing season 2016 was crazy in Champagne. The Aube, in particular, was severely hit by capricious weather, and many vignerons lost large parts of their yields. Not Lassaigne:

”The weather seems to favour Montgueux. Even this year our harvest was excellent. The only times we have really suffered here in the village were in 2008 when a horrible 20-minute hailstorm destroyed a big part of our yield, and in 2003, after the frost. I’m a lucky man.”

Birthday in Montgueux

Last October, I returned to Montgueux – this time for my birthday. Arriving by train from Paris, flu had made me miserable. But tasting Emmanuel’s vins clairs (non-sparkling base wines), I felt alive in a second. At Lassaigne, they are of superb quality.

Another feelgood factor was meeting two Aussies in Montgueux. Cam O’Keefe, a young sommelier, won the Vin de Champagne Award 2016, whilst florist Nicole Goodyer snatched gold in the amateur category of the contest. For the prize, these two got to explore Champagne for two weeks. Not bad, eh?

We all share a wonderful bottle for my birthday: Lassaigne’s freshly disgorged Millésime 2002. As Emmanuel disgorges every bottle by hand (pretty rare in today’s Champagne), I feel thankful to enjoy such a bottle from such a great vintage.

As Cam and Nicky leave for dinner, we continue to talk. Instead of viticulture and winemaking, our conversation meanders from travelling and happiness to children and life in general. A proud father of four, Emmanuel Lassaigne still has a certain image of lonely rider. Maybe that’s the reason why I feel so at home with him?

Now you may wonder why I have no decent close-up portrait of Emmanuel. There are two reasons. First, he is not that fond of being photographed, and I want to appreciate it. But above all, since the visits to Montgueux tend to become epic experiences, I easily forget I ever had a camera with me.

Our beautiful October night ends at Crieurs.

 

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Big thanks to wine writer & champagne specialist Caroline Henry who arranged my first Lassaigne visit. Before that April afternoon, I would never have imagined becoming a regular at Montgueux. Now I am – and shall hopefully remain until death do us apart.