🍾 Lanson Le Blanc de Blancs

Lanson Le Blanc de Blancs is a non-vintage white Champagne in the Brut style from the house Lanson in Reims.

According to the house, it is 100 % Chardonnay from a selection of 15 crus, mainly from the Côte des Blancs, the Montagne de Reims, Montgueux and the Vitryat; it has at least 38 % reserve wines, is aged for at least 5 years in the cellars, 75 % of the wines go through no malolactic fermentation, and the dosage is up to 7 g/l.

The house Lanson is based in Reims; it was founded in 1760.

The boundaries of the Champagne area were set by a law of 6 May 1919: parts of the Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne departments. The designation’s specification allows seven grape varieties, dominated by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; grapes are picked as whole bunches, that is by hand, and the yield is limited to 10,400 kg per hectare.

According to the Comité Champagne, Champagne is served chilled to 8–10 °C, and bottles are kept in the dark at a steady 10–15 °C, without vibration. An opened bottle is best closed with a sparkling-wine stopper and kept cold.

It is sold under the protected designation of origin Champagne: the bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, and the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage). Brut on the label is an EU sugar term: less than 12 g of sugar per litre.

Why it matters to you. According to the house, it comes in: a 0.75 l bottle and a 1.5 l magnum. No year on the label means it is not a vintage wine: the house may blend wines from different harvests. Blanc de blancs on the label means a wine made only from white grapes. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.