Club Trésor du Champagne is an association of independent growers in Champagne that has gained a reputation for high quality champagne. The Special Club champagnes, made by each member at vintage years and bottled in a specific bottle, are now very sought after by champagne lovers all over the world.
If you are curious about the club, its members and their champagnes, the best thing to do is to visit their beautifully designed shop and wine bar next time you are in Reims.
The independent growers (as opposed to the houses and the cooperatives) make only a small percentage of all champagne bottles produced. But their champagnes have often so much more character and personality. Look for RM, meaning récoltant-manipulant, on the bottle.
Read more on this in Britt’s article on Forbes: Champagne J Lassalle: Long-lived Pioneers On The American Market.
One of the 28 members is Champagne J. Lassalle in Chigny-les-Roses in Montagne de Reims. The founder, Jules Lassalle, joined the club in 1979. Jules’ granddaughter Angéline is now in charge.
Britt recently met with the family Lassalle.
Here’s the introduction:
Champagne J. Lassalle started to export to the United States already in the 1970s. It was one of the first independent Champagne growers to be sold in the US. Today, a big part of the family’s production goes to the US market. The estate is run by Angéline Templier and her mother Chantal Lassalle. Grandmother Olga is 99 years old and still going strong.
You don’t have to go far from the city of Reims to discover the wines of Champagne. Actually, you don’t have to leave Reims at all as the city has several Champagne houses within its boundaries. But going out into the vineyards and to the small, well-kept wine villages heightens the Champagne experience considerably.
Go twenty minutes south from Reims and you could end up in Chigny-les-Roses, a charming village with 550 people, a beautiful town hall and a fair number of Champagne producers. Continue south for another 20-30 minutes and you are in Epernay.
“Chigny-les-Roses is more or less halfway between Reims and Epernay”, says Angéline, who runs the family business Champagne J. Lassalle in the village. “We are in the Montagne de Reims, famous for its Pinot Noir. But here in Chigny, we are actually more famous for our Pinot Meunier.” 50% of the Lassalle family vineyard is planted with Pinot Meunier.
Read more on this in Britt’s article on Forbes: Champagne J Lassalle: Long-lived Pioneers On The American Market.
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If you want to know more about champagne, about the grapes, about the wines, about the gastronomy, and especially about the exciting grower champagnes, then you can read BKWine’s unique book, Champagne, the wine and the growers, provided you read Swedish…, packed with information and recommendations.
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It is even more exciting to discover all the nuances and variations of champagne on site and see how it works with the French gastronomy, on a wine tour to Champagne with BKWine.
Travel to the world’s wine regions with the wine experts and the wine travel specialist.
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