PRESS RELEASE DECEMBER 2006

CLASSEMENT REVUE DU VIN DE FRANCE 2007

Cuvée n° 730 : Elegant and deep, its finish shows length, delicacy, ripeness and minerality 16,5/20
1996 : Very subtle expression of the vintage, without any of the premature oxydation sometimes found in 1996s. Dense, slightly restrained, it's a great champagne with a very long aging potential. 18,5/20
Avize Grand Cru 1996 : Fine and racy 18/20
Dizy Corne Bautray 2000 : Deeply moving by its precision, its smoothness, its density, and its volume, it's a brilliant success 19,5/20
Les notes du guide

Non Vintage :

16,5/20 : Jacquesson Cuvée n° 730, Egly Ouriet Brut Tradition
16/20 : Bollinger Spécial Cuvée, Pol Roger Brut Réserve

Vintage :

20/20 : Bollinger RD 1996, Krug Clos du Mesnil 1995
19,5/20 : Jacquesson Dizy Corne Bautray 2000, Krug Collection 1985

GUIDE VIN LE MONDE 2 Septembre 2006

Cuvée n° 730 : Champagne of great character, vinous, powerful. It will age very well 17/20

GUIDE FLEURUS DES VINS 2007

Avize Grand Cru 1996 : The palate is onctuous and delicate, very elegant. Extremely long finish 18/20

HUGH JOHNSON GUIDE DES VINS 2007

Jacquesson : Excellente small Champagne house in Dizy. Excellent Avize Grand Cru 1996, exquisite cuvées Grand Vin Signature 1995, 1996, 1996 Rosé et Dizy Corne Bautray 2000, exquisite Cuvées n° 728, 729, 730.

MEININGER Champagne Magazine Sacha Speicher Nov. 2006

A Peaceful Revolution : Brothers Laurent and Hervé Chiquet are making some remarkable changes at Champagne Jacquesson. From the manufacturing process to the composition of their range, the pair are striking out in new directions. And these directions are extremely promising, at least based on the results that we have seen so far. The current range is impressive in every way, demonstrating quality, expression and character. Their non-vintage Brut, Cuvée No. 730, is the cornerstone of this range. In an exemplary move, the consumer is given every drop of information about the wine: the assemblage, the date of degorgement and the level of dosage, which at 5 g/l seems extremely moderate, but which is the highest level of dosage in the entire range. All the other champagnes produced by the house are Extra Brut, or even bottled without any dosage at all! This is unique in the world of champagne.
Their Brut is joined by a range of other wines, including the Avize Grand Cru 1996 Extra Brut, and - brand new - a second blanc de blancs. This wine, the Dizy Corne Bautray 2000 Non Dosé, is still rounded and even tastes "sweeter" than the 1996 Avize (review on p.42) as a result of the rich vintage. Their third wine, Aÿ Vauzelle Terme, is not yet on the market. The last vintage from 1996 has sold out, and the next vintage, 2002 (!), is still on its lees.
"We are also going to adapt the Avize," says Hervé Chiquet. "We are currently using grapes from three parcels of land. In the future, we intend to use just the oldest and most expressive grapes, namely from Champ Caïn, and we will include the name on the label. The other two will be used to further improve the base of our Brut or vintage champagnes." This is not the only change that customers can look forward to over the coming years. Plans are to introduce the rosé (made using the saignée method) Les Terres Rouges from Dizy in 2007.
And still that is not all: what has until now been known as the prestige cuvée Signature no longer exists in this form. It has been replaced by the Jacquesson 1996 vintage champagne (in white and rosé). The white, like most champagnes produced by the house, is bottled without any filtration. Even the vinification is unusual: the base wines are fermented in large wooden barrels and matured for several months on fine lees, during the first three months of which the lees are stirred. The result is down-to-earth, lusty champagne with an almost unique power and complexity.
If the Chiquet brothers continue down this path undeterred, it will surely not be long before Jacquesson is mentioned in the same breath as Krug or Bollinger.
95 Jacquesson 1996
The classiest and most aromatic Champagne on the market: ripe grapefruit, a hint of curry, orange peel, cereals, very winey, with enormous body, which buffers the great acidity. Excellent minerality and lingers on the palate. Monumental.
93 Jacquesson Avize Grand Cru 1996
One for the purists. Dry fruits, apple peel, cereals; uncompromising and intense on the palate (green walnuts), perfectly clear with a classy, almost steely acidity.
92 Jacquesson Dizy Corne Bautray 2000
Powerful roasted notes, baked apple, walnuts, dried apricots; full and rounded, almost sleek (although extra brut), very fruity palate (orange, grapefruit).
89 Jacquesson Cuvée n° 730
Powerful roasted notes (including wood), acacia, nuts, cereals, fine fruity flavour of mandarins, decent tannins, very aromatic, perhaps slightly large perlage.
Terroirs : The Chiquet brothers have remained true to their philosophy and have completely reorganised the range and - more importantly - the handling of the vineyards at Jacquesson. All of their changes have been made with the aim to produce wines which are true to their terroir. In terms of champagne, unusually low harvests, natural methods of cultivation, natural yeasts and maturation in wooden barrels are the most important tenets of their philosophy. The changes to the range are fully underway. Two Grands Crus are already on the market, and even here Chiquet has gone one step further and included the name of the vineyard site on the label: an example of this is the varietal Chardonnay Corne Bautray from Dizy.

MATTHEW JUKES : The Wine List 2006

Instead of using non vintage or vintage nomenclature on this wine, the Jacquesson team call it number 730. It is simply the 730th wine made at the property since 1898. The reason for this approach reflects the modern attitude, but also the wine-making beliefs at Jacquesson, they understand that every year is different and, therefore, endeavouring to make a non-vintage wine (a complex blend of several years'wines) taste the same all of the time, year-in year-out, must in some way compromise the art of the wine. Jacquesson made this wine predominantly from the 2002 harvest and then just balanced it out with some reserve wine. The result is a wine that has house "style" but is true to the character of the year, which is a joy. Cheers to this heavenly, ripe, honeyed, yet perky wine.

REGAL Décembre 2006

Dizy Corne Bautray 2000 : The Premier Cru Dizy Corne Bautray is atypical and surprising. Atypical because 100% Chardonnay in a Pinot Noir terroir. Surprising by the pleasure provided by its tasting : smooth (although without any dosage) and almost austere at the same time. Magnificent.

REVUE DU VIN DE FRANCE : Special Vintage 2006

The Chiquet brothers will make vintage wines in 2005. High style wines, typical of their terroir. Because of the careful viticulture, the wines are full bodied and show a lot of character. Pinot Meunier from Terres Rouges in Dizy has a lot of body. Slightly coloured, a discrete nose, round with nice red fruits in the finish. Le Clos, a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, is coloured, powerful, rich, vinous with enough acidity. The wine shows a good potential. Among Chardonnays, Fonds de Béval in Hautvillers is very round but suffers from a lack of vivacity. Les Champs Braux in Oiry is slightly superior, showing a bit less body but more acidity. Corne Bautray in Dizy is a beautiful wine, green in colour, with very ripe white fruits and citrus nose. Good power, good length, good balance between ripeness and acidity. In Avize, la Fosse is a bit light and soft, but Champ Caïn is beautiful, smoky, elegant and lively. But we prefer the Pinots Noirs. Terres Rouges in Dizy, is coloured, fruity, spicy and vinous. A touch above, La Carmotte in Mareuil/s/Ay is fruitier, more tender and more elegant. A blend of various spots in Ay is even better, coloured, very spicy, very vinous and very balanced. Vauzelle Terme in Ay dominates the tasting with its dazzling fruit. Full-bodied, it's extremely well balanced and very long. It shows all the strength and ripeness of its terroir.

James Halliday Top 100 - 2006

JACQUESSON

Cuvée n°730 NV

95POINTS

The cuvee number changes each year and details of each cuvee are on the back label. Thus 60 per cent of the wine comes from the 2002 vintage and 40 per cent from older reserves. The base is 48 per cent chardonnay, 32 per cent pinot noir and 20 per cent pinot meuniere. It has distinct bronze tinges, complexity on the bouquet, then a fluid cascade of perfectly ripened fruits, allied with nutty brioche notes, running through the finish and aftertaste.

VINUM Décembre 2006

Les notes :

20/20 : Jacquesson 1996
19/20 : Pol Roger Winston Churchill 1996
18/20 : Bollinger R.D. 1996, Krug 1995, Krug Grande Cuvée, Jacquesson Cuvée n° 730, Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame 1998, Amour de Deutz 1999, Mailly Intemporelle 2000, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1995
Jacquesson Cuvée n° 730 : Even if this wine were awful, I would have to award it a top mark because the information on the label (date of degorgement, assemblage, quantity produced) is exemplary. But this wine is good. Not for everyone perhaps, but with the Cuvée no. 730 Jacquesson has gone one step further down the road of originality, character and expression. And in so-doing has won first place in the "Champagne for Champagne-lovers". CH: 18/20
Krug Grande Cuvée : A battle for the top spot between Krug and Jacquesson? Rubbish - both produce magical wines. Whereas one excels with originality and character, the other stands out in terms of its trueness to style, complexity, finesse and experience. Krug - the wine of the world. Jacquesson - the wine for connoisseurs… The two brands are today dividing the world. Perhaps this is an inspiration, because the latest Grande Cuvée is even fresher, fruitier and more elegant, but still traditional, thoroughly sexy and ultra-modern. 18/20
Jacquesson 1996 : Perhaps there are (even) better, more original wines than this…but you will be hard pressed to find a wine that reflects the conditions of the year so exactly and so precisely. Juiciness, class, expression, fruit - you have the feeling that you are tasting the juices directly from the ripe grapes. This method of seeming to transfer grapes directly from the vine to the bottle without any ageing or any aroma from the barrel is unique. One of the most exquisite champagnes that I have tasted in my whole life. CH: 20/20

GUIDE CHAMPAGNE Gerherd Eichelmann 2006

World Class Domains (*****) : Bollinger, Jacquesson, Krug, Jacques Selosse
The ratings :

97/100 : Jacquesson D.T. 1989
96/100 : Jacquesson Ay Vauzelle Terme 1996, Lanson 1979, Roederer Cristal 1996
95/100 : Jacquesson Avize Grand Cru 1996, Dom Ruinart 1993, Salon 1995, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1995, Pierre Moncuit 1996, Krug Rosé, Bollinger R.D. 1990, Jacques Selosse Substance The whole of champagne world is talking about Jacquesson with great esteem. If you speak to the Chefs des Caves of the great champagne houses they will often refer to the high quality of the small Jacquesson champagne house with respect. If you chat to small, independent wine growers, it is not unusual to hear the very same admiration for Jacquesson. A further frequent comment is that Jacquesson is not actually a trading house, but that it is better to talk of them as wine growers: large-scale wine growers.

WINE GROWERS ABOVE ALL ELSE At Jacquesson, the "wine growers" are Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet. Their father, Jean Chiquet, a wine grower at the Côte des Blancs, acquired the brand and the vineyards in 1974 and moved the domicile of the house to Dizy. Jacquesson is a brand with an extensive history. It was founded in 1798 in Châlons by Memmie Jacquesson, son of a wine trader. The house rapidly rose to fame, aided by the fortunate fact that Napoleon was a particular fan of Jacquesson champagne. However, everything that we today value about Jacquesson champagne began with Jean Chiquet in 1974. Jacquesson is a trading house, but it manages to cover almost 90% of its grape requirement from its own vineyards. These vineyards are located in the Grands Crus Ay, Avize and Oiry, and in the Premiers Crus Hautvillers, Dizy and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Additional grapes are only bought from wine growers who follow exactly the same methods as Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet. It is grapes that they buy, not wine. These grapes are pressed by Jacquesson itself in its four presses, three of which are located in Dizy and one in Avize. The two brothers see themselves primarily as wine growers who cultivate the land and do everything with the aim to obtain the best possible grapes from their vineyards.
OLD AND DEEP-ROOTED VINES Old vines are very important at Jacquesson, and the average age of the vines is more than 30 years. They do not want to rip out any more vines, but do everything to keep the old vine stock alive. Vine density will be increased in the future to 11,000 vines per hectare. More foliage management is needed in order to achieve this and to ensure good aeration. Grapes are harvested according to ripeness: this is the decisive factor, not values likes alcohol or acidity. Low yields result in ripe grapes, and concentrated champagne. All of their wines undergo malolactic fermentation. The accepted opinion that champagnes like this cannot be laid down for long is disproved by Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet, whose 1988 and 1989 vintages, sold without dosage, are wonderfully powerful and young.
AGEING IN WOOD, NO FILTRATION AND EXTREMELY LOW DOSAGE Most Jacquesson wines are aged in wood barrels, some small, some large. The aim is controlled oxidation over a number of months. This makes the champagnes more vinous, more complex, and more structured. Since the 2000 vintage, Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet no longer filter their wines at all. In the last few years, the brothers have made alterations to their range. The non-vintage Brut is numbered consecutively, starting with 728, meaning that the Cuvée, newly produced each year, has a unique appellation by which it can be recognised. In good years, they plan to produce Reserve champagne from five parcels in Dizy, Aÿ and Avize, for example the varietal Pinot Noir from Vauzelle Terme in Aÿ. The brothers use very little or no dosage, and all Jacquesson vintage champagnes are Extra Brut.
I adore Jacquesson champagnes for both their originality and their character. For me it is irrelevant whether Jacquesson is a trading house or a wine grower. What is important is the quality in the glass: excellent champagnes!