Jacquesson lunch(es) in Champagne and London

Oct 17, 11 Jacquesson lunch(es) in Champagne and London
Jacquesson front gate

Jacquesson front gate

I had lunch twice with Jean-Herve Chiquet, one half of the fraternal owners of the champagne house of Jacquesson (founded in 1798), along with his fabulous champagnes in the space of 2 weeks. I know, it’s tough but someone has to do it.

Jacquesson 734

Jacquesson 734 with dessert at the winery

Jean Herve pouring at the winery

Jean Herve pouring at the winery

My first encounter with Jean-Herve, at the winery was rather disheveled, as somebody had forgotten to tell him that we ( meaning the CIVC and us) were coming for a visit, but Jean-Herve recovered magnificently. He amiably lead us through a tour of his winery followed by lunch with the chateau staff. At lunch, Jean-Herve popped open bottles like soda pop, numerous bottles of the Jacquesson 734 and Jacquesson 735 being opened and passed around the lunch table. The perks of working in Champagne is, well, I guess, champagne with your workaday lunch! You may wonder why the wines go by a number instead of a name. The answer is simple, it was the number of the lot in their daily reports.

Even though it was the last day of the harvest and I’m sure he had plenty of work to do, he kindly led us through a tasting of his single vineyard 2002’s – the Dizy and the Avize after lunch.

Dizy Corne Bautry 2002

Dizy Corne Bautry 2002

The Dizy and Avize are special because although they are single vintage, they didn’t start out that way. Originally, they only wanted to make great wines but when they tasted the terroir of the wines, they knew that they were onto winners. Both are 100% chardonnnay but due to the terroir very different in temprament and character. The Dizy coming from premier cru vines and the Avize, grand cru.

oyster ice cream

Oyster ice cream to start at Pollen St. Social

At the winery, I preferred the 2002 Dizy, Corne Bautray, Blanc de blanc, tasting of a mouthful of rocks (in the best possible way), very precise with a sharp attack and finish, the middle being quite sweet and fruity. I could almost taste the seashell bed of Champagne, finishing off with some candied nutty notes.

Cured Salmon at Pollen St. Social, London

the Cured Salmon at Pollen St. Social, London

The 2002 Avize Champ Cain, Blanc de blanc on the other hand had a saline character to it, full of minerals and chalk, the nose opening up quite well but less of the fruit then the Dizy.

2002 Dizy corks

2002 Dizy corks

What was surprising to me was how the wines changed at the next lunch which was at Pollen St. Social in London a week and a half later. This time, the Dizy had seemed to calm down on the minerality and the nutty, almost hazelnutty quality seemed to overtake the fruit. It was still a very precise champagne but seemed a bit softer. The Avize still had that salty quality but the nose had more sweet fruitย  and the finish now had some toffee going on. Jean-Herve said it might have something to do with the travel from France to England – who knows, the mystery of champagne.

1995 magnum compared to a 750 ml

1995 magnum compared to a 750 ml

To finish off our lunch at Pollen Street we had a magnum of the Avize 1995. Only 400 produced and disgorged in July 2010, Jean-Herve thinks this is the best of the 90’s for chardonnay. The late disgorgement meaning that the wine is still a bright yellow in colour with very fine bubbles.ย  He calls it a faultless wine, a beautiful summery nose, very fresh and subtle. I found a fantastic purity and focus in the wine, the minerality still a big part of this wine but the fruit as well blending harmoniously.

The Jacquesson Dizy and Avize 2002 vintages are only available on trade at Pollen St. Social in London. They liked both so much that they bought as much as they could for the restaurant.

A big thanks to Fields, Morris & Verdin for inviting me to lunch, to Pollen St. Social for being such genial hosts and to the CIVC for introducing me to Jean-Herve and his winery in Champagne. A bientot!

The Winesleuth and Jean-Herve Chiquet

The Winesleuth and Jean-Herve Chiquet at Pollen St. Social, London

4 Comments

  1. Lovely lunch indeed FMV are such generous folk, whilst I appreciate your comments on the single vineyard wines, could you let me know a little more of your thoughts on the NV734 and 735 which are more accessible to the general public. Heh even if I had the money for the single vineyards they are allocated in such tiny quantities that a consumer would be fortunate to pick up more than a couple of bottles.

    Thanks

    Richard

    • Hi Richard, you made me look thru my notes from Champagne for the 735 and 734 ๐Ÿ™‚ I could only find the 735 which was full of that mineral quality – chalky and rocky with sweet fruit on the palate – faint melon notes, creamy, really interesting, opened up as we went along. We alternated between the two during lunch so that’s probably why I don’t have notes for the 734. Guess I’ll have to try it again ๐Ÿ˜‰ Delicious!
      ps. I forgot to mention in the post that Jean-Herve plans to disgorge the 2002 vintage in 2020 – can only imagine!

  2. Sounds like a great lunch. Wish I could taste it ๐Ÿ™‚

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Le Grands Crus dello Champagne: Avize « Glocal Vini & Terroir - [...] Jacquesson lunch(es) in Champagne and London (thewinesleuth.co.uk) 43.794180 7.613010 Share this:FacebookStampaEmailTwitterDiggLinkedInMoreStumbleUponRedditLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Categories:…
  2. Due Champagne di terroir: Agrapart e Benoit Lahaye « Glocal Vini & Terroir - [...] Jacquesson lunch(es) in Champagne and London (thewinesleuth.co.uk) 43.794180 7.613010 Share this:FacebookStampaEmailTwitterDiggMoreStumbleUponRedditLinkedInLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Categories:…

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.