Champagne Lanson masterclass In anticipation of Lanson's 250th anniversary this year, a celebratory masterclass covering 21 years from 1976-1996 (with varying dates of disgorgement and dosage) was held at Christie's Education last December. It was given by the world's acknowledged Champagne expert Tom Stevenson.

Lanson is France's third oldest Champagne house after Ruinart (1729) and Moet (1743), and is distinguished by the fact that its base wines do not undergo malolactic fermentation (MLF). Thus far, only Krug and Gosset do the same, while Roederer uses a blend of both MLF and non-MLF styles. Actually fermentation is misnomer for although the process releases carbon dioxide, MLF simply converts the stong 'green apple' malic acid of young wine to more rounded lactic acid, enabling Champagne to be marketed earlier.

Earlier last year, Lanson hosted a blind tasting, attended by several of the UK's leading palates, to compare MLF and non-MLF Champagnes. The results made clear that MLF, or rather its absence, has a marked influence on Champagne's taste profile, with non-MLF styles scoring higher marks for zestiness, flavour intensity, complexity and length.

MLF began to be widely used in Champagne the 1950s, but perhaps its days are now numbered. In the last 30 years global warming has seen Champagne acidity fall by 2g/l on average, and avoiding MLF is beginning to look like an attractive option to preserve freshness. Tom Stevenson - who in his 2009 Wine Report states that 'for the past two years Lanson Black Label has been the best and most consistent non-vintage Champagne from any of the big Grandes Marques' - is himself convinced non-MLF is the future way for Champagne to retain its individuality.