Champagne Lanson Noble vertical: 1979 – 2012

Champagne Lanson is well-known for its vintage-dated Champagne, blended from roughly equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, a cuvée that was particularly prominent in the 1960s and 1970s when it was colloquially known as Red Label.

Following the success of this, the house wanted to create a prestige cuvée that focused more on Chardonnay, leading to the birth of Noble Cuvée, first made in the 1979 vintage.

As of 2022, Lanson has revised its collection of Champagnes. Noble Cuvée has been rebranded as Noble Champagne, and put into a prominent position of its own, not entirely as a different brand but with an identity that exists apart from the rest of the range.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 15 Lanson Noble Champagne and Noble Blanc de Blancs wines

Champagne Lanson: the facts

• One of Champagne’s oldest houses, Lanson was founded in 1760 by François Delamotte.

• The Maltese Cross has been associated with the house since 1798, when Nicolas-Louis Delamotte, son of the house’s founder and a member of the Knights Hospitaller (later known as the Order of Malta), adopted the cross as Lanson’s emblem.

• Lanson has held a Royal Warrant since 1900, and remains an official supplier to the British Royal Family today.

• Hervé Dantan has been Lanson’s chef de cave since 2013, taking over from renowned cellarmaster Jean-Paul Gandon.

Noble Champagne: finesse, delicacy and freshness

From the start, the Noble Cuvée was conceived as a blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, sourced entirely from grand cru villages and made only in the best years.

The Chardonnay, which represents both the physical and spiritual heart of the blend, comes from the Côte des Blancs villages of Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, and Chouilly, although in certain vintages the selection has been even more restricted, such as in 1983, when it was made from Avize, Cramant, and Le Mesnil, or 1998, when the Chardonnay came only from Avize and Cramant.

‘The goal is to create a very refined wine, seeking finesse, delicacy and freshness, as well as emphasising the character of the Côte des Blancs and the minerality of chalk,’ says chef de cave Hervé Dantan, who oversees the house’s cellars today.

In 1983, Lanson also began bottling the Chardonnay separately, labelled as Noble Cuvée Blanc de Blancs, and the house continues to produce its prestige cuvée in two parallel versions today.

The Noble details

The Blanc de Blancs is usually the same blend as the Chardonnay portion of the blended version of Noble, while in the latter, the Chardonnay is paired with a complementary style of Pinot Noir, most notably from Verzenay, although occasionally other grands crus can be used as long as they are compatible with the overall vision of freshness, finesse and longevity.

‘Verzenay is an important cru for Lanson, and for this cuvée,’ says Dantan. ‘It’s vinous but at the same time it’s fresh, tense and very fine.’

There have so far been 21 vintages of Noble Cuvée and 19 vintages of Noble Cuvée Blanc de Blancs produced, although only 12 of the former and 10 of the latter have been released so far.

As always, they are both made entirely without malolactic fermentation, which is a hallmark of the Lanson style. Today, the house’s non-vintage Black Label can contain up to 25% of base wines that have gone through malo, but the vintage cuvées continue to retain all their malic acidity, contributing to the wines’ notable purity, longevity and finesse.

Lanson looking forward

Commenting on the rebrand, Dantan says ‘The idea of Noble Champagne is to be a Lanson wine but a little bit separated’.

This is reflected in its new packaging, which simply states Noble Champagne on the front label, although the Maltese Cross, a symbol of Lanson for the past 200 years, is also dominantly displayed.

The 2004 Brut and Blanc de Blancs represent the first vintages released as Noble Champagne, disgorged in 2021 after 16 years on the lees, and the new releases are dosed at 6g/L.

The lees ageing of Noble Champagne has been extended, with the goal now set at a minimum of 15 years in the cellar before release.

Lanson also retains a number of older vintages in the house’s cellars that are re-released in small quantities from time to time, and as with the house’s Vintage Collection, these are intended to be disgorged shortly before release and dosed at 3g/L.

Tasting Lanson Noble Champagne

In May of 2022, I was invited to taste a vertical of Noble Champagne with Hervé Dantan and Enguerrand Baijot, Lanson’s export director.

This comprised both Noble Champagne and Noble Blanc de Blancs, and it was the first time that the house had ever hosted a vertical tasting of these two cuvées.

Some were from original disgorgements, showing the inimitable complexity and character imparted by long post-disgorgement ageing. Others were disgorged recently, and with their lower dosages and long ageing on the lees, these are more indicative of the philosophy of the house regarding library releases.

While each vintage reflects its own individual personality, the most impressive element of this tasting was the consistency in quality over more than three decades and the distinctive character that remained constant through the entire series, expressing the elegant and racy Lanson style yet interpreting it through a Chardonnay-driven lens.

See Peter Liem’s tasting notes and scores for 15 Lanson Noble Champagne vintages:

Wines are shown by vintage, in ascending order

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