What To Know Before Choosing Your Next Bottle of Champagne
A bottle of Champagne is the ultimate accompaniment to any celebration, with factors such as the blend of grapes, the vintage and the time spent ageing impacting the end result. We asked an expert, Champagne Lallier’s chef de cave, Dominique Demarville, to explain the intricacies involved in crafting some of the world’s finest drops to help you select your next bottle.
The region and terroir in which the grapes are grown
It’s no surprise that Champagne in north-east France is dotted with renowned maisons producing world-class sparkling, but the name doesn’t just refer to this area – it’s also a strictly controlled official designation for vineyards in the region and the wines they produce. Here, the landscapes, presses and cellars are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for their role in the development of Champagne.
Region of origin plays a major role in influencing a wine’s taste and composition. But equally important is terroir, which encompasses the complete environment – soil, climate and topography – where the wine is produced.
Champagne Lallier is located in Aÿ, one of just 17 Grand Cru villages in the Champagne region. With more than three decades of experience in the wine industry, Champagne Lallier’s chef de cave (cellar-master) and general manager, Dominique Demarville, knows the soils of this region intimately. “I joined the company because I wanted to be close to the wine and the terroir. For me personally it’s a return home – this is where I made my first wine in 1986 when I was a student,” he says.
“Aÿ is the only Grand Cru village in the Vallée de la Marne: its terroir is exceptional and the resulting wines have structure and depth and offer freshness and finesse. At Lallier, we produce Champagne using grapes from single chardonnay vineyards in Aÿ, which is unique in this region.”
Champagne Lallier Réflexion Brut R.020 is now served in Qantas First Lounges. To enjoy Lallier at home, earn or use points when you purchase the range at Qantas Wine.
The winemaking approach
Known for its innovative winemaking, Champagne Lallier focuses on capturing both the character of the village and the singular flavour of each harvest – best embodied by its Réflexion collection.
“Lallier’s Réflexion Champagnes are created using a very new approach,” says the chef de cave. “A lot of reserve wines use grapes from previous years to gain consistency. Réflexion is a multi-vintage Champagne with a majority of the grapes harvested during its predominant year.” The R.020, for example, is made primarily with grapes from 2020.
“For a chef de cave, this poses a new challenge. You must create the perfect union, balancing the house and valley style – purity, freshness and depth – with the character of the year.”
Réflexion Champagnes are aged for a minimum of three years instead of the standard 15 months. “The proportion of Grand Cru is 40 to 50 per cent and at that level we must wait for the complexity, intensity and depth that we expect.”
Bringing the human touch
In Champagne, all grapes are picked by hand, in accordance with regulations set by the CIVC (Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne) – a major feat for a region spanning 34,000 hectares. “For Lallier’s 20 hectares of vineyards, we need up to 70 people during the harvesting season in addition to our core staff of 28. This team is vital to the process,” says Demarville.
Regardless of the season, this chef de cave begins his day meeting every person involved in the process, whether that’s by the vines or in the winery or cellar. “I want to know the priorities for the day, what’s working and what the challenges are. We’ll share a coffee and sometimes a good bottle of Lallier. It’s important for staff to taste the fruit of their hard work.
“While I know Champagne very well, what I’m most aware of is that it’s crucial to have the best people managing each part of the process. We’re constantly working together, sharing ideas and exchanging philosophies and strategies, which keeps everything fresh and dynamic.”
Purchase the Champagne Lallier range from Qantas Wine and earn Qantas Points as you shop.
What happens in the cellar
Blending is the key to creating an exceptional wine. “For Réflexion, our team of four tasters first looks at wine from the most recent harvest. Then we decide on the level of reserve wines to use,” says Demarville. “The goal is to reach the perfect balance and if we need more than 30 per cent, we don’t make it. It takes more than three months to perfect the blend and during the three-year aging process, we continue tasting the wine two to three times a year.”
The end result? Champagne Lallier Réflexion Brut R.020 is a multi-vintage reserve wine featuring hand-picked gently pressed chardonnay and pinot noir grapes sourced predominantly from the 2020 harvest. The wine is fermented in oak and stainless steel and is then blended with reserves from 2018 and 2019 before being aged on lees for more than 30 months to develop depth. On the palate, expect notes of fresh citrus, zest, green apple and a hint of raspberry.
In Australia, Champagne regularly ranks as one of the country’s favourite wines to reach for and Lallier is continually evolving to keep pace with changing tastes. “We’ve just released Réflexion R.021 Brut Rosé,” says Demarville, who is constantly looking to the future. “We have such beautiful wines and there’s so much more to come.”
