Jacquesson
The Jacquesson Champagne House was founded in the late 18th century by Claude Memmie Jacquesson. The champagne house was very popular right after its foundation, even with Napoleon Bonaparte. The company continued to grow under the rule of his son Aldophe. He is also the inventor of the muselet: the metal basket around the cork. After the premature extinction of the family line, the estate was taken over by the Chiquet family. After brothers Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet (the second generation of the family) took the helm at Jacquesson, the vision of the house changed. The duo did not want to produce wines that have the same character every year, but champagnes that are oriented towards the terroir.
The vineyards in the villages of Aÿ, Dizy and Avize cover a total area of 30 hectares. Chardonnay is the most common grape variety, followed by Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. After hand harvesting, the grapes are fermented in oak barrels. In the cellar, gravity is used, i.e. the wines are not pumped over. This ensures that the refined character is preserved.
To show that each wine and each vintage has its own style, all champagnes without a vintage are given their own number. The first edition is No. 728 and dates back to 2000. The Cuvée 700 series consists mostly of wines from the respective vintage and a small part of reserve wines. These champagnes mature in the cellar for about four years before they are released on the market. Some of these wines age for up to 9 years! These are marketed under the name "dégorgement tardif".
Jacquesson is a small Champagne house, producing only 350,000 bottles a year. That may seem like a lot, but when you consider that this amount has to be divided between global demand....
Jacquesson's best vintages are: 2002, 2004 and 2008.
Read more