As anticipated, the 2024 L&S Champagne and Sparkling tasting generated quite a buzz, with press reports from Tam Currin for JancisRobinson.com (see Grower Champagnes, Finding Value), and Anne Krebiehl for Vinous.com (see Champagne the 2024 Spring Preview).
“The grower-champagne movement has achieved something that the grand houses can only dream of. It’s now mainstream, accepted and deeply embedded into the traditional, more serious fold of the wine industry”
“The other thing that the new era of grower champagne has achieved is price points to rival the top champagne brands. And they’ve done this without the vast might of champagne-house marketing budgets and their enormous brand reach which has normalised luxury-level prices for certain house names and cuvée names. Some of the prices in these two tastings had me peeling my eyebrows off the ceiling.”
“I met people who were passionately curious and innovative but not pretentious; people who were down to earth and funny, focused on making wine not on marketing wine. No one talked about luxury. Just about dirt.”
Tamlyn Currin, JancisRobinson.com
We were delighted to be joined by the vast majority of our producers who kindly took time out at the end of the busy Printemps des Champagnes week to come to London and present their wines.
The Champagnes were well-received by sommeliers and journalists during the day, and by just manageable number of highly very engaged private customers in the evening. All were excited to try so many different styles from Blanc de Blancs from the Grands Crus of Chouilly, Cramant, Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil from producers such as Larmandier-Bernier, Franck Bonville, Lancelot Pienne and R&L Legras, through pure Pinot Meuniers from Christophe Mignon from the eastern Marne valley, Domaine de Marzilly in Hermonville on the massif Saint Thierry, Nicolas Maillart on the northern slopes of the Montagne de Reims and Roger Coulon in Vrigny, to the classic Pinot Noir based Grands Crus of Bouzy and Ambonnay, represented by such leading lights as Egly-Ouriet, Rodez, Barnaut, Gonet Medeville and Benoit Marguet. All great fun and as Tam Currin noted, and very positive energy in the room – one to look forward to for the 2025 edition.
