Jacques Lassaigne Clos Sainte Sophie Blanc De Blancs Brut 2015 750ml

Clos Sainte-Sophie is a special parcel in the heart of Montgueux that Emmanuel vinifies on its own. Planted between 1968-1973, it’s a historic site for grafting & horticultural research from the 1800s. 

Lassaigne tells the story behind the label. “In the 1980s, [someone] found written accounts of a story buried in the ground in a garden near Mount Fuji: in 1850-1860 when Japan opened their port and sent people to other countries to learn, they sent two Japanese people to the Clos Sainte-Sophie parcel to learn about the vineyard and how to make wine. They stayed for two years and returned to Japan with 100 rootstocks — and planted the first vineyard in Japan.  

Vinification Method: The Clos Sainte-Sophie juice is vinified in a combination of barrels previously used for Cognac, Savagnin ouillé (from Ganevat), and Burgundy barrels for 6 months. The juice is then blended in tank for 2 months. The wine is bottled in the spring of the following vintage and then spends 6 years on the lees in bottle. 

Tasting notes: This wine is opulence personified. Laser beams of acidity balance out the caramel notes here and the finish goes on and on for millennia. This wine pairs well with long-lived wedding anniversaries and doctoral dissertation completions, but it will also make a random moment feel just as special. Extremely limited and unicorn-like.