schiller-wine: Cellar Visit and Tasting at the Champagne House AR Lenoble in Epernay, with Christian Holthausen - Burgundy (and Champagne) 2016 Tour by ombiasy WineTours

Picture: Christian Holthausen and his Husband Simon and Annette and Christian Schiller at AR Lenoble

The tour ended in the Champagne Region, where we visited 3 Champagne Houses. (1) The family run, small Grower Champagne House Jean Josselin, (2) the medium-size family owned and run Champagne House AR Lenoble in Epernay and (3) the large Champagne House Taittinger in Reims.

At AR Lenoble, Christian Holthausen, Export and Communication Manager, was our host. He came all the way from Paris to receive us. He introduced us quickly to the production facilities of AR Lenoble and led a fantastic AR Lenoble Champagne. We have met Christian many times before, including at several European Wine Bloggers Conferences.

Pictures: Arriving at AR Lenoble

AR Lenoble

AR Lenoble is one of the rare producers in Champagne that has been consistently family-owned and entirely independent since the very beginning. AR Lenoble was founded in 1920 by Armand Raphaël Graser who arrived in Champagne from his native Alsace in 1915 in the middle of the First World War. Not wanting to have a German-sounding last name at that particular moment in history, he christened his wines “Lenoble” as he believed the wines of Champagne to be the most noble wines in France; his initials “AR” preceded the “Lenoble” and a new bran was created.

Today his grandchildren brother and sister Antoine and Anne Malassagne are owners and manger of the estate. They took over in 1993 from their father and in just over twenty years, they have quietly yet confidently transformed AR Lenoble into one of the jewels of the Champagne region.

Pictures: Introduction by Christian Holthausen

Vineyards

AR Lenoble owns a total of 18 hectares, which in Champagne makes for a small-medium sized house. AR Lenoble believes very strongly in privileging the characteristic expression of fruit from its own vineyards located in three prime locations in Champagne:

CHOUILLY, the northernmost Grand Cru village located on the celebrated Côte des Blancs (10 hectares are estate-owned by AR Lenoble) and home of some of the most magnificent Chardonnay in all of Champagne.

BISSEUIL, the Premier Cru village located between Mareuil-sur-Ay and Tours-sur-Marne (6 hectares are estate-owned by AR Lenoble) and home of rich and structured Pinot Noir.

DAMERY, the site of AR Lenoble since 1920, located to the immediate east of Cumières. The village is home to some elegant and expressive Pinot Meunier due to soils that are a combination of clay and limestone. AR Lenoble is fortunate enough to own 2.5 hectares.

Christian Holthausen: Ploughing is routinely practiced in our vineyards to make sure that our plants are able to obtain the maximum of nutrition from the soils. We let the grass grow in our vineyards in order to reduce yields on purpose. Our yields are significantly lower than the average yields in Champagne, year after year. We control the date we begin picking in each of our parcels to consistently obtain ideal ripeness.

AR Lenoble was the second House in Champagne to be awarded the “Haute Valeur Environnementale” certification in recognition of more than 20 years of environmentally-friendly procedures put in place on the estate: zero use of chemical fertilisers, practically zero use of weed killer, drastic limits on the use of phytosanitary inputs to control mildew and powdery mildew in the vineyar, and particular attention to biodiversity and enhancement of the vineyard with hedgerows, orchards, embankments, trees and low walls.

Pictures: AR Lenoble Tour

In the Cellar

A parcellaire approach which begins in the vineyard is followed by a vinification adapted to the harvest and to the parcel, meaning that our wines are ‘made to measure’ in every sense of the word. A combination of different vinification vessels are employed so that individual parcels are fermented accordingly in small Burgundy barrels of 225 litres, 5000-litre foudres, stainless steel tanks and/or enamel-lined tanks. All reserve wines are conserved in either small Burgundy barrels of 225 litres or 5000-litre foudres. Malolactic fermentation is done or not done according to parcel and year however it is never done for vinified or aged under wood. Evaluation of the different vinified parcels begins in December and lasts for a period of six months.

Once the blends and wines are decided, bottling takes place. Bottles are aged underneath the winery in the historic 18th century cellars. A constant temperature of 11°C and a humidity level of 85% ensure that the wines are aged in only the most pristine conditions. Long periods of ageing is mandated for all wines, never less than three years.

Pictures: Private Quarters - AR Lenoble

AR Lenoble was an early advocate of limiting dosage in order to let the terroir express itself purely and precisely. We don’t believe in low dosage as a “marketing trick”. For each wine it is a question of finding the right balance. We have taken a lot of time to determine the right dosage and have decided for most of our wines, dosage is never more than a maximum of 6g/l. AR Lenoble Brut Nature Dosage Zéro was first released more than 15 years ago and is considered to be one of the first world-class examples of this style of wine.

Pictures: Tasting with Christian Holthausen

Total production is some 320.000 bottles per year, of which 50% is exported, and which are not released before at least three years of ageing in the cellars followed by three additional months of post-disgorgement ageing. For comparison, Roederer‘s output is 5.000.000 bottles.

Tasting