Champagne AR Lenoble

While walking in the middle of the red and gold hues that color the Champagne region in autumn, you may come across beehives... If so, you are surely on a parcel of the AR Lenoble estate!

A Champagne estate with Alsatian origins

In 1870, an Alsatian named Joseph Graser was forced to leave his native Alsace in the face of the advancing German army. His escape led him to Epernay, where he decided to settle in the middle of the vineyards. Following his sudden death, his son Antoine-Raphael took over the role of head of the family. In such an environment, winemaking seems to be an obvious choice. If the name of the new estate at first pays tribute to the recently deceased, it quickly changes its name. AR from the name of its founder, Lenoble to celebrate the nobility of Champagne wines.

Throughout its history, the family could have chosen the easy way out and given in to one of the many takeover offers. But this choice privileging quantity over quality went against the values and the work provided by four generations. Today, the siblings Anne and Antoine Malassagne run the estate with complete independence and freedom.

A wide variety of parcels

As a reminder in Champagne, what we call "Cru" actually refers to a commune, some of which are classified as Premier or Grand Cru. This is the case for the majority of the parcels here. The 18 hectares of vineyards of the domain are divided between Chouilly, a commune of the Côte des Blancs classified as Grand Cru, and, not far from the Montagne de Reims, Bisseuil (classified as Premier Cru). The vines, which have the HVE label, are cultivated using sustainable agriculture in order to promote the life of the soil and biodiversity. As for the rest of the supply, it comes from partner winemakers near Epernay from whom the grapes are bought.

In the 1990s, the house was one of the first to adopt a plot-based approach. By vinifying grapes from a single parcel together, the goal was to restore the authenticity of a specific terroir. However today, blending grape varieties and parcels remains the norm at the estate.

The signature "mag"

The search for excellence continues in the winery, where they work the old-fashioned way with, for example, large manual wooden presses. Then, depending on the desired style, the wines made with the year's harvests are vinified and aged in stainless steel tanks, foudre or oak barrels.

The signature of the house is based on its reserve wines, which benefit from a particular maturation. Indeed, each year, a part of the year's wines joins the "eternal reserve", a blend of wines from several previous vintages. This eternal reserve has the particularity of aging in magnum for a minimum of 4 years before being incorporated into a blend with a wine of the year. Thus, a champagne "mag" 15 will be made of wine from the eternal reserve blended with the base wine of the year 2015.

AR Lenoble champagnes therefore offer perenniality through the years, but with this little "hand-sewn" taste that we invite you to discover urgently!