Champagne Lallier has released the next iteration in its Réflexion’ series highlighting the generosity of the 2020 harvest balanced with Lallier’s signature fresh and pure style.
Lallier’s ‘Réflexion’ series was one of the first examples of redefining the non-vintage category, with their inaugural release from the 2010 harvest. The idea was that, instead of blending away the annual characters of the wine, they instead allow them to be revealed.
It’s a concept better known as ‘multi-vintage’ (rather than non-vintage) and has gathered momentum in Champagne over recent years. The idea is that non-vintage champagne does not need to adhere to a military-like strictness to maintain a producer’s style, nor to be acceptable to consumers, but can better adapt to the charm and challenges of each year.
Lallier’s chef de caves, Dominque Demarville, is a big fan of it, recently launching the next iteration of Réflexion - R.020 - sporting a 2020 base wine, the same year that he started with Lallier. 2020 was another exceptional harvest in terms of quality in Champagne, following 2018 and 2019, to make a trilogy of great years. A dry and sunny summer resulted in an early harvest, delivering intense and fresh grapes with high maturity.
To this end, he says that Réflexion is a wine that needs to balance a ‘touch’ of vintage with the consistency of a non-vintage.
“I must think about the uniqueness of the year but also to respect the four pillars of Lallier which is purity, freshness, intensity and depth,” he says. “This is a blend with a very light level of reserve wine added in, which is why every year it is touched by the character of the year.”
In the case of 2020, the year was very deep and intense producing full-bodied wines with juicy fruit and great length. Incorporating the 'colour of the year' within the freshness of Lallier’s style is key to making each blend.
Reserves play a lesser role which places considerable focus on the quality of each harvest. “It means that, in some years when quality of harvest is poor, we don’t make a Réflexion blend – like in 2017,” says Demarville.
Therefore, the wine's depth and intensity is not leveraged from reserve wines, which is how richness would otherwise be achieved in non-vintage blends. Instead, it comes from the quality of the grapes, modified use of oak, and also through a special focus on yeast.
“In each blend we have wines made under oak. Réflexion has around 5-10% coming from oak barrels which brings depth,” says Demarville. “Before blending we age for a very long time on lees in tank and barrel which provides length and concentration.”
Yeast plays an increasingly important role in refining Lallier’s style. For years, they’ve taken a ‘parcellaire’ approach to capturing yeast from their key vineyards for their prestige champagnes but they're now working on a ‘yeast cocktail’ to bring greater identify to the Lallier style in Réflexion.
Yeast that can support the aging of the wines, for up to two years in barrel and vats, is also being experimented with to bring greater creaminess and intensity to the palate.
Under Demarville, Lallier is experiencing a leap forward in progress and creativity which is propelling their champagnes forward and out of relative obscurity. These are champagnes that deserve our attention.
Lallier R.020
51% chardonnay / 49% pinot noir. 50 crus within Côte des Blancs, Côte de Sézanne and Montgueux for chardonnay, and Vallée de la Marne, Montagne de Reims and Côte des Bar for the pinot noir. 81% from 2020 with 19% reserve wines from 2018 and 2019 harvests. Four atmospheres of pressure. 30 months aged on lees. 7g/L dosage.
Freshness and purity are always at the fore of Lallier's champagnes, irrespective of what they are, even when it comes to the generosity of 2020.
Here the aromas are relatively pronounced, an abundance of white flowers and zesty citrus reflect the wine's chardonnay bias. There's a soft maturity developing through honeyed notes and ripe fruits akin to white peach and apricot.
On the palate, R.020 has a fresh attack and a delicate silky texture complimented by the power and structure of pinot noir. The finish is long with a pleasant aromatic persistence and strong mineral salinity.
RRP AUD $95
Words by Sara Underdown
Photography supplied by Lallier and Pat Stevenson
