David Léclapart is the 4th generation to farm his family’s 3 hectare estate, located in Trépail, a premier cru village in Montagne de Reims. He took over the winemaking mantle from his father who passed in 1996, and began releasing wines under his own name in 1998.
The Montagne de Reims is a diverse wine growing region of Champagne and although it is often thought of as the source of some of the regions finest pinot noir, true in many cases, the area is also the source of some splendid Chardonnay.
As the hill of Reims ‘the Montage de Reims’ moves from having northerly exposer around the villages of Verzenay and Verzy to the south-easterly slopes of Trépail the preference and importance of Chardonnay begins to climb. The Montagne then turns more southerly towards the famous villages of Ambonnay and Bouzy and again pinot noir gains stature.
It’s on these south-easterly slopes of Trépail, the same exposure as the Côte des Blancs, that David Léclapart tends his vines. His family has been growing grapes for four generations, but it wasn’t until David managed to convince his parents that he was ready to take over control that he started his own label in 1998. From the outset David was certain that biodynamics was the only approach he would take. He farms 22 parcels across the village Trépail and since 2000 they have all been farmed with this approach.
Léclapart’s wines are always from a single vintage, as he doesn’t use any reserve wine. The vintage is stated on the back label in code expressed as L.Vxx, where xx represents the last two digits of the vintage (e.g. L.V05 for the releases from 2005). This is due to him not aging his wine long enough to qualify for the vintage designation under the strict AOP regulations.
L'Artiste, is made from 100% Chardonnay from 3 biodynamically farmed plots, vines 30 – 50 years old, around the village of Trépail. Half of it is fermented in enameled tanks and the other half is in old barrels.
Appellation:
Champagne, France
Country of Origin:
France
Type:
Champagne
Grape Varieties:
Chardonnay
Tasting Notes:
This has fragrant minerally edges and is a striking cuvée with flinty crushed rocks, lemon biscuit and spiced hazelnut aromas. The palate has a sheer and smooth texture in addition to attractive peach-pastry flavors. A dry, citrusy finish. Acidity is striking.
