Lanson Black Label Brut (9 Liter Bottle - Salmanazar)
- Decanter
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Tasting
Panel -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
50% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 15% Meunier from 100 villages in all, and including 30% reserves from 10 vintages back to 1995; a small proportion now being produced with malolactic. Black Label remains the confident barometer of Lanson, and Hervé Dantan’s first blend is a class act, a resounding statement of his talent in preserving the style and integrity of the house while meticulously polishing the edges. It’s a very important cuvée in the grand scheme of Champagne: one of the best and most consistent of the bargain set.
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Tasting Panel
Balanced and refined yet ripe, rich, and generous with sweet fruit, charm, and good length, this is a marvelous sparkler from an always reliable house.
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James Suckling
A fresh, balanced palate with green apples, pie crust and pears. Medium body, fine bubbles and a crisp, dry finish. Nice center palate. Four years on the lees. Drink now.
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Wine Spectator
This creamy Champagne is bright and citrusy, offering an expressive and well-meshed mix of ripe blackberry, pastry dough and pickled ginger flavors. Racy finish. Disgorged October 2016. Drink now through 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
The classic Lanson nonvintage label sums up the dry style of the house, with its emphasis on crisp fruit, a taut, almost mineral texture and an ability to age in the bottle. It can be drunk now although it will mature further.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Disgorged in January 2018, the latest release of Lanson's NV Brut Black Label is showing well, offering up aromas of warm biscuits, crisp orchard fruit, dried citrus rind and toasted brioche. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied and crisp but fleshy, with the house's non-malo style tempered by a generous core of fruit, concluding with a long, chalky finish. This is a very creditable non-vintage cuvée that has the cut and structure to evolve in the cellar.
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Wine & Spirits
With brisk flavors ranging from green apple to orange and red raspberry, this wine emphasizes fresh fruit and chalky limestone acidity. It’s clean and simply presented, ready to pour with briny oysters.
Best Buy
Founded in 1760, Lanson is one of the oldest Champagne Houses.
Drawing on family heritage and unique expertise, the men and women of Lanson have been guided for 260 years by their love of a job well done and their love for others.
The unique and authentic style of Lanson Champagnes rests on four immutable pillars: a meticulous selection of Crus; a vinification according to the traditional Champagne principle; a rare collection of reserve wines, and a longer aging in cellars.
Hervé Dantan, Lanson Winemaker, carefully crafts elegant wines, that are characterized by an inimitable freshness, fruitiness and vitality.
Lanson Champagnes bring people together. They are made to be gifted and shared with our cherished ones. The Lanson Cross, carefully marked on each bottle, is timelessly emblematic of this philosophy.
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.’