Winemaker Notes
Single vineyard planted to the 7 indigenous Champagne grape varieties — Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Meslier, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris & Arbane. 40% reserve wine from a solera dating back to 2005. 4 g/L RS.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The NV Champagne Les 7 Extra Brut takes things to a whole other place and is highly compelling. The nose is lightly toasty and shows off layered complexity and length, with its initial notes of wild herbs and fennel followed by more mature notes of brine, toast, sand, and organic forest coming through as it opens. It has a fine and refined mousse with a balanced freshness.
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Vinous
The NV Extra Brut Les 7 (2018 base) is a blend of all seven permitted varieties, done with a fair amount of perpetual reserve, all of which yields a Champagne of uncommon complexity and nuance. Hints of lemon confit, spice and more savory, earthy notes fill out the layers. Les 7 is complex and bursting at the seams with personality. This release is 50% 2018 and 50% a perpetual reserve going back to 2005. Bottled with no dosage. Disgorged: November, 2021
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James Suckling
Lemons, grapefruit, sliced apples, oyster shells, salted butter and salted almonds on the nose, followed by a wonderfully fresh, saline and silky palate with racy acidity. Salty, incredibly bright and very long. From seven grape varieties planted in a single 0.5-hectare plot in Chavot. Co-fermented pinot gris, chardonnay, pinot meunier, petit meslier, arbanne, pinot noir and pinot blanc. From a perpetual reserve of 2005 to 2021 (50% is 2021).
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Based on the 2017 vintage, complemented by reserve wines drawn from a solera established in 2005, the newly disgorged NV Extra-Brut Les 7 delivers aromas of buttered toast, nuts, white flowers and fresh bread. Medium to full-bodied, it's elegantly fleshy, with tangy acids and a chalky, gently mordant finish.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’