Imagine obtaining exclusive presale tickets to a highly anticipated show and you’re in the realm of today’s limited access to AR Lenoble’s 2013 Premier Cru Bisseuil: As of this writing, this special offer is only accessible through us, but come October/November, when the “press releases” emerge, we suspect all-out pandemonium at the veritable ticket booth. By then, our small parcel will be safely resting in your homes. Those who’ve viewed a generous amount of our offers know that we don’t go around publishing scores on our website, so we all shared a laugh when an email came in last week asking to not yet promote the high numbers Lenoble’s 2013 Blanc de Noirs received, since they have yet to be released. Fine by us!
However, we will say that this epic Pinot Noir Champagne deserves every bit of the praise. Over the past two years, we’ve grown close to the small Lenoble team, celebrating with them in both Paris and their Champenois home base in Damery as they’ve ridden waves of effusive praise from all corners of the world. All of this points to one sure thing: AR Lenoble is poised to become “the next big deal” in Champagne. Our steady support throughout their launch to stardom has earned us cellar-direct access to all of their best bottlings, and today’s is a real stunner: sustainably farmed Premier Cru Pinot Noir; long French oak fermentation; six years of aging in their chalk caverns; judiciously low dosage—this is power and elegance epitomized.
AR Lenoble is a rare breed in Champagne—both a highly respected house and independently owned since day one. This is a family resolute in keeping operations close-knit and crafting the greatest, purest expressions from an impressive collection of elite vineyards. While technically a négociant house, AR Lenoble is hardly just some “merchant.” In 1915, Armand-Raphaël Graser made the decision to move his family from Alsace in order to protect them from the nasty vibrations of the First World War. It took five years to craft his first Champagne and 20 more to actually establish the house, but with perseverance and a little help along the way (from Léon de Tassigny, who went on to take the helm at Champagne Jacquesson), AR Lenoble began making its way onto the world scene. Lenoble is now run by his great-grandchildren, the brother-sister team of Anne and Antoine Malassagne, who have brought on new practices while preserving the traditions that preceded them. The Malassagnes have made sustainable viticulture a priority, eschewing chemical fertilizers, and eliminating other non-organic vineyard treatments. Additionally, reserve wines are fermented in a mixture of unique vessels and dosage levels are kept low to let the fruit and terroir character shine. They are the epitome of progressive thinking.
The Premier Cru-rated village of Bisseuil lies within the Grande Vallée, a small yet immensely prestigious area that acts as the buffer between the larger Champagne regions of Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne. Here, you’ll find a chalk-loaded terroir known to produce hearty, full-bodied Champagnes four-square in structure—wines that can rouse the most stubborn emotions if finessed by the right producer. That’s where AR Lenoble enters: By farming these vines sustainably, and picking at low yields, their 1er Cru Pinot crop was bursting with ripeness and balance in 2013. At the winery, fermentation occurred in 70% large neutral barrels and 30% stainless steel to extract more breadth and texture from the base wine. In the beginning of 2014, the wine was bottled and sent to rest in Lenoble’s cold, subterranean chalk caves for over six years. It was disgorged in the spring of 2020, given a light three-gram dosage, and shipped to us after a month of rest.
If you’re at all confused as to how a Champagne can be full-bodied, allow AR Lenoble’s 2013 Bisseuil Blanc de Noir to serve as the crash course. No, this isn’t a luxurious, toasty, melt-in-your-mouth Champagne—it’s a powerful, broad, and immensely structured wine. It pours out of the bottle with an energetic mousse that quickly settles into a deep yellow core with copper and silver hues. One or two swirls reveals a Premier Champagne of brawny elegance: intoxicating notes of red apple skin, bruised Bosc pear, nectarine, and red cherries coolly roll out, followed by rose petal, wet stone, chalk, brioche, crushed almonds, forest floor, and a desirable hint of oak spice. The vinous palate does not disappoint. It’s core is deeply red-fruited with pulverized surges of minerality leading each savory wave. It finishes long and dry, with hints of candied nuts and delicate spice fusing onto a mouthwatering encore. This wine is the real deal, and every time I take a sip, I feel extremely fortunate to have a direct partnership with AR Lenoble. Enjoy now and over the decade. Cheers.
