The Champagne world waited with bated breath when Jacquesson announced their 2021 releases. As expected, their newest “700 series” bottling wowed critics across the board but seeing as it represents 95% of their annual production, the most fervent Jacquesson disciples were eagerly anticipating the other five percent: the vintage-dated, single-vineyard white whales. Nobody, however, expected the shocking two-fold reveal that came with it.
First, Jacquesson took their renowned, barrel-aged “Terres Rouges” rosé and transitioned it into a Blanc de Noirs since they believed it would enhance the site’s profound chalky limestone soils. The second part of the reveal was unprecedented—Jacquesson simultaneously released two vintages in a five-to-one ratio. In other words, for every six bottles that left their cellar, five were from 2013 and one was from 2012 due to such a microscopic yield of the latter. So there you have it: A 1.3-hectare parcel entirely comprised of Pinot Noir, 12 months in old foudres, and 6+ years of lees aging have resulted in a fantastically vinous and multi-dimensional experience. Jacquesson is considered “the connoisseur’s Champagne House” for a reason and their dual “Terres Rouges” release once again establishes their impressive reign atop the precipitous peak of elite sparkling wine. Quantities are absurdly small. No more than three bottles per person.
BONUS! I’m sure many of you are asking the obvious question: “Where is Jacquesson’s 2012 and how many can I secure?” Eight bottles are available (that’s it!) and one of them can be purchased here.
Although Jacquesson is universally considered to be among Champagne’s most influential Houses over the past 200 years (Krug’s origin story starts here!), their transcendent rise within the last 25 has truly put the estate in a class by itself. Among the very oldest of the Champagne Houses, Jacquesson was founded in 1798 and was a leading producer of bubbles throughout the 1800s: If you wanted a fine bottle of Champagne back then, this was one of the few to seek out. Today, it serves as one of Champagne’s finest estates because owners Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet arguably have the most fanatical “grower” mentality (they own over 80% of their vines) out of the 250+ Grandes Marques that exist. Their rapid ascension since taking over in the late 1980s is nearly rivaled by none: they’ve drastically cut production to focus on cleaner viticulture and the nuances of their wines; completely revolutionized the “non-vintage” game by adding more transparency and authenticity; and launched a series of vintage-dated lieux-dits that have already been measured against the greatest bottlings in all of Champagne.
Today’s lieu-dit is “Terres Rouges,” a 1.3-hectare vineyard in the Vallée de la Marne village of Dizy that’s planted entirely to Pinot Noir. These vines are rooted in chalk with reddish-brown limestone and were originally planted in 1993. Their meticulously sorted crop in 2013 provided ample ripeness and perfect levels of natural acidity and its pristine juice was delicately extracted to begin a slow fermentation (including malo) in old foudres. After one year in these massive neutral oak vessels, the resulting wines were blended and bottled without any fining or filtering. From here, they slumbered in Jacquesson’s dark, dank caves for over six years before disgorgement and an extremely light 0.75-gram dosage in February of 2021.
A year of post-disgorgement aging, plus the simple fact that it’s rapidly approaching 10 total years of maturity, has morphed this 2013 Blanc de Noirs into a breathtaking, ultra-savory powerhouse. This is champagne in its most vinous, elegant, and sublime form, and one can truly get a sense of top-level Pinot Noir typicity. It rolls out of an all-purpose stem with redcurrant, bruised peach, black plum, and black cherry skin alongside wet herbs, crushed stone, almond paste, honeycomb, and damp red/yellow flowers. It’s broad and immensely layered with powerful orchard fruits emanating from a massive, slow-moving core of crushed minerals. It is to be savored slowly, in a meditative setting of sorts, now and over the next decade.
