Jacques Lassaigne Coteaux Champenois Blanc Haut Revers du Chutat 2022

Jacques Lassaigne, run by Emmanuel Lassaigne, sits in Montgueux near Troyes, a chalk outcrop on the western edge of Champagne better known for its base wines than its still ones. Coteaux Champenois is the appellation for still wine from the region, and this is a barrel-aged Chardonnay from those chalk soils. The subsoil here is pure Turonian chalk, which holds water in dry spells and reflects light back into the canopy, giving Montgueux Chardonnay its ripe fruit and firm mineral spine. The vines are farmed biodynamically and the wine is made with minimal intervention, natural and vegan in style. Ageing in barrel allows a slow oxygen exchange and lees contact that broadens the texture without covering the fruit, and the malolactic conversion softens the sharper acids into something rounder. The colour is pale gold. The nose leads with lemon, white peach and green apple, backed by hazelnut and a light toasted-bread note from the wood. The palate is dry and mineral, with a chalky, saline finish that reflects the site. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees in a white wine glass.