Léclapart Champagne 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut "L'Artiste" 2014

Léclapart Champagne 1er Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut "L'Artiste" 2014

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From the importer, Zev Rovine: "Despite his youth (own label started in 1998) and the minuscule, 1000 case production from his tiny 3 hectares of vines, David Léclapart’s particular talent is well recognized by Richard Juhlin, the self-styled ‘Gentleman of Champagne.’ In his monumental reference ‘A Scent of Champagne.’ Juhlin praises Léclapart for “the masterpieces he creates in harmony with nature.” Furthermore, among the hundreds of producers he writes about, Richard Juhlin rates David Léclapart among only a handful of 4 -star producers. Only Krug (of course) Roederer (predictably) Jacquesson (curiously) and Selosse (naturally) rate higher, with 5 stars. Of all of the apostles and acolytes of Anselme Selosse, the father of the growers' own label movement, David Léclapart is surely the heir to Selosse’s Pan-like spirit. Léclapart is a man of the vines. To him, the vineyard is the subject to which the vintage adds some color. But where Selosse was perhaps whimsical, Léclapart is determined and driven. He is determined to express the character of his tiny three hectares of vineyards and he is driven to see his vision of unique batches from harvest through to bottling, almost regardless of any pressing commercial considerations. Léclapart’s wines are unquestionably and emphatically biodynamic. He is a farmer first, before winemaker, eschewing blending and only bottling wines from single harvests (though the ‘vintage’ can only be deduced from the lot number, as they have not always adhered to the fine print of the code for true vintage dated champagne on the label.) All primary fermentations are by natural yeasts and all see 100% malolactic conversion. His best sites are fermented in small old wood barrels that lend his wines a powerfully vinous character of roundness and maturity that persists through secondary fermentation. Production is tiny, barely totaling 1000 cases a year across all his releases. So clearly, Léclapart’s wines are made for the true champagne connoisseur. They are made for those who appreciate both individuality and rigor. But they also express and carry forth a passion that is proudly worthy of the great pioneer and iconoclast himself, Anselme Selosse."