2008 Jacquesson Dizy Corne Bautray Blanc de Blancs

Jacquesson

France / Champagne / Jacquesson

100% Chardonnay from the Corne Bautray lieu-dit in Dizy. The parcel lies at the top of a steep slope facing south-west; clay and alluvial silt filled with millstone grit gravel on Campanian chalk. 9,000 vines planted to Chardonnay over one hectare in 1960. Chablis pruning. Grapes picked on 28th September 2008 with 8.3g/L acidity. Bottled on 20th May 2009. Disgorged in April 2018. No dosage.
2008 was a year characteristic of our northern clime: spring was cool and rainy, summer dry and windy, as was September. Proof that Champagne can produce a great vintage despite a cool growing season! - Jean-Hervé Chiquet

August, 2019

Nick Stock

jamessuckling.com

100 points

This is a phenomenal Champagne of such purity. It delivers immense power with such refinement. There’s a very precise feel with a super fine, sliced-brioche nose and white-peach, fine-lemon and chalky-mineral notes. So fresh. There’s such intensity, focus and delicacy to the palate. So focused and so detailed with seamless, fluid, ripe-chardonnay flavor and layers of savory baked biscuits, building on the finish. Wonderfully complete structure and texture. The power here is considerable and the acidity drive is simply wild. Wow! Drink or hold.

August, 2019

William Kelley

Wine Advocate

95 points

The 2008 Extra Brut Premier Cru Dizy - Corne Bautray is showing brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with a youthful bouquet of citrus oil, clear honey, preserved rhubarb and subtle hints of fresh pastry. On the palate, it's full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with an incisive spine of acidity, considerable concentration and a long, reverberating finish. This is an unusually tensile, racy rendition of this cuvée, and Jean-Hervé Chiquet observes that, in the 2008 vintage, this typically rich wine has embraced its Chardonnay origins more wholeheartedly than usual. It's a terrific wine that will delight Champagne purists. All 5,488 bottles and 304 magnums were disgorged without dosage in April 2018. As readers may know, the Corne Bautray is a southwest-facing parcel planted in 1960 that's characterized by gravel and marl soils over a base of Campanian chalk.

July, 2019

Antonio Galloni

Vinous Media

95 points

The 2008 Extra-Brut Corne Bautray, 100% Chardonnay, is a wine of real class and sophistication. Lemon confit, white pepper, chalk and floral notes all open up in the glass, but more than anything else, the Corne Bautray is a wine of total harmony. The finesse of the mousse alone is truly remarkable. Beautifully textured and vinous, with terrific freshness, the 2008 is a regal, impeccably balanced Champagne with tons of pure personality. No dosage. Disgorged: April, 2018.

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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."