NV Champagne Jacquesson Cuvée No. 740

Jacquesson

France / Champagne / Jacquesson

Fruit mainly from Jacquesson’s 2012 harvest from Ay, Dizy, Hautvillers, Avize and Oiry. Winter was long and cold; spring and early summer were very wet and there were severe attacks of mildew. However, a superb end to the growing season gave the Chiquets a small crop of remarkable quality. The cuvée is completed with several reserve wines from previous 700-series Cuvées.
“Cuvée 740 represents on average 95+% of the Jacquesson production,” explains Jean-Hervé Chiquet. “It’s really the wine of the domaine so the percentage of grape varieties does not vary a lot: 50% + Chardonnay; 50% or less Pinots, half of each. Plus or minus a few percent every year. We have replaced the percentage of each grape variety by the name of the villages from where we source those grape varieties, because the blend does not vary a lot and also everybody uses Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier, but only Jacquesson sources its grapes from Aÿ, Dizy, Hautvillers, Avize & Oiry.”

July, 2017

Mike Bennie

The Wine Front

94 points

From the 2012 harvest and five locations in Champagne. The farming is now biological/organic, the winemaking decidedly low intervention. Indeed, the wines sit on lees in barrel for their life outside bottle, unfined and unfiltered. Sulphur addition would be on the very lower side for Champagne at 20ppm added and less than 40ppm total. Effectively, as natural-leaning as Champagne gets these days. All the info is on the label too. This is a super-dooper release too.
It’s a marriage of toasty-richness and bristling freshness here. Compact in the palate with undertones of brioche, marzipan, ginger biscuit, with a coursing vein of green apply, tangy fruit character and lively oyster-shell-like minerality. The bouquet is attractive, a mesh of patisserie, honey and apple/citrus character. It pulses through the mouth with refreshment factor and light, palate sticking fruit-yeast sweetness. It’s gulpable and yet fine. It’s stunning stuff.

October, 2017

Tyson Stelzer,

The Champagne Guide

94 points

To properly respect the 700 series, treat it like a vintage wine, and don’t be alarmed when it’s introverted and tightly restrained on release. It will open beautifully a year later, and truly blossom five or 10 years on. The 740 is built around a core of grapefruit, nashi pear and almost ripe fig, with a dry focus that accentuates wonderfully present, salty oyster-shell chalk minerality. Large barrel fermentation brings impressive coherence, creamy seamlessness, fine-tuned texture and the slightest charcuterie nuances. It lingers with great line, persistence and integrity. A very classy 700 series.

November, 2017

James Halliday

Weekend Australian Top 100 Wines 2017

95 points

NV in name, vintage in body (80% base wine) with a micro-dosage of 1.8g/l. A blend of 43% chardonnay, 30% pinot meunier and 27% pinot noir, it is tight and firm on release, with a citrus sherbet under gently sweet fruit, balance its saviour now, and in full flower in five years hence.

November, 2017

Alison Napjus

Wine Spectator

92 points

Spice and verbena notes herald this firm, lacy Champagne, accenting flavors of poached quince, slivered almond and fleur de sel. Finely balanced, this is dry and savory on the lightly toasty, lasting finish. Disgorged September 2016. Drink now through 2020.

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About Jacquesson

Jacquesson has an impressive 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 fact that Napoleon was a fan. However, everything that we today value about Jacquesson began in 1974 when Côte des Blancs winegrower Jean Chiquet acquired the brand and vineyards and moved the domicile of the house to Dizy. His sons Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet are the present custodians of the Jacquesson trading house, which manages to cover almost 90% of its grape requirement from its own vineyards. These are located in the Grands Crus Aÿ, Avize and Oiry, and in the Premiers Crus Hautvillers, Dizy and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Additional grapes are only bought from growers who follow exactly the same methods as the Chiquets. The fruit is pressed by Jacquesson itself in its four presses, three of which are located in Dizy and one in Avize.


About

Laurent and Jean-Hervé Chiquet see themselves primarily as winegrowers who cultivate the land and do everything with the aim of obtaining the best possible grapes. And from there, the brothers have been ready to break with convention in order to deliver the best possible wine every time - hence the decision to introduce the 7-series non-vintage wines instead of the traditional house NV. In his 2018 article entitled Champagne’s Top Five Movers & Shakers, Tyson Stelzer summed up the approach pretty well: "It’s been 40 years since Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet’s family purchased Jacquesson, 30 years since the brothers took control, 20 years since they turned champagne’s non-vintage concept on it head with their controversial ‘700 series’ cuvée, and ten years since they pulled their most cunning stunt of all by slashing production to ramp up quality. And ramp up it has."