First taste: Champagne Lallier’s Réflexion R.020

Lallier, purchased by the Campari group in 2020, sits in one of Champagne’s in-between spaces.

On the one hand, this is a house like many others, buying in 90% of its grapes from all over Champagne. On the other hand, it has a sense of local identity too, alongside a handful of prominent neighbours in the grand cru-rated village of Aÿ in the Grande Vallée of the Marne river.

‘We have more than 10 hectares in Aÿ,’ says cellar master Dominique Demarville, pointing out an unusual feature for this Pinot Noir-heavy region: ‘one third of this is Chardonnay.’

Scroll down to see notes and scores for two latest releases from Champagne Lallier

Coup de coeur

Lallier scored a notable coup when Demarville, ex-cellar master of Veuve Clicquot and Laurent-Perrier, joined in 2021. Sometimes the movement of cellar masters in Champagne looks like a slow game of musical chairs, but this switch from a major house to a small, up-and-coming house piqued some interest.

Was there perhaps more of an opportunity for greater flexibility, or to make a more personal stamp, at a smaller property?

‘There is a little more flexibility,’ answers Demarville, joking that he is ‘more of an old winemaker than a young winemaker’. But, he continues: ‘There is an opportunity to bring all my experience of Champagne…but first of all it was the wines that attracted me to Lallier.’

Dermarville arrived at Lallier in time to blend the first wines from the 2020 vintage. It’s a year he believes excelled with Chardonnay, which had an easier time reaching perfect ripeness in some of the extreme heat and drought conditions than the more delicate Pinot Noir.

Accordingly, ‘Réflexion R.020’ is the first blend since the cuvée was created in the 2010 vintage to feature more Chardonnay than Pinot Noir.

An open canvas

Réflexion can be considered a multi-vintage cuvée more than a non-vintage – a blend of multiple years, with around 30% reserve wines from previous vintages added to wine from a particular base year.

Each edition is labelled with a different number so that engaged drinkers can compare each release (unlike non-vintage cuvées which ostensibly promise year-on-year consistency).

What next for Dermarville and Lallier? First, to work on the reserve wines: ‘Not to add more, but to increase the depth,’ says Demarville, pointing to the new oak foudres being installed in Lallier’s winery. Grape sourcing, too, is developing, with some Meuniers featuring in the house’s blends in the future. And 2025 will see the first Reflexion rosé, also blended by Demarville.

There are no blank canvases in Champagne, but Lallier is perhaps as open a canvas as one might find such a well-respected winemaker in front of. It will be a project well worth watching.

See notes and scores for two Champagne Lallier releases

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