NV Lancelot-Pienne "Instant Present" Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

The Instant Présent bottling includes fruit from both the Lancelot family’s holding in the Côte de Blancs and from the villages of Monthelon and Mancy, which lie just south of Épernay (average 40 years of age). Aged on its lees for 30 months before disgorgement. Dosage is 7 grams. The wine offers up a refined bouquet of apple, pear, a touch of hazelnut, chalky soil tones, brioche and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and complex, with frothy mousse, lovely focus and grip, a good core and mineral undertow and a long, well-balanced and classy finish.

The perfect apéritif wine, this is a fine bottle of non-vintage Blanc de Blancs that is already fantastic but will reward tucking away in the cellar for a few years. 

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Gilles Lancelot trained at the champagne school in Avize and farms 8.3 hectares of grapes, half of which are in Cramant, Chouilly and Avize with the other half spread over Boursault, Mancy and Monthelon in the Vallée de la Marne. Their vines now average 40 years of age. The vineyards are worked using lutte raisonée, so that spraying and chemical treatments are reduced to the absolute minimum. In the winery, the grapes are given a very slow pressing, then fermented in stainless steel- and enamel-lined concrete tanks, where they remain on their fine lees for 6 to 8 months. Malolactic fermentation is done on all wines. All of the champagnes are aged for at least 30 months en tirage. Dosage is between 7 and 8 grams per liter depending upon the year.

80,000 bottles are produced annually and no grapes are sold to négociants. About 50% of their production is exported. Gilles is a grower who makes a full range of champagnes, but focuses on his Blanc de Blancs cuvées because he feels they represent some of the best values in Champagne. Fresh and elegant, lightly dosed and superbly creamy, these are perfect aperitif champagnes.