Champagne Lombard et Médot: new exclusive cuvées

Winegrowers’ portraits Épernay

Champagne Lombard et Médot

new exclusive cuvées

The independent, family-run wine trading company Lombard et Médot was founded
in Epernay in 1925, and is currently directed
by Thierry Lombard, the third generation heir.

Thierry Lombard and Christophe Pitois discover Tanagra,
the new Exclusive Cuvée, ageing in racks in the wine cellars of the House.
With ten hectares of its own vineyard in the Mon­­tagne de Reims, and 140 hectares through supplier contracts, Champagne Lombard et Médot produces around a dozen cuvees. To the existing range, new, exclusive wines have been added, a testimony to the know-how and quality of the supply: a non-vintage Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru; and a Tanagra Grand Cru range, comprising, at the moment, a Brut and a Rosé to be introduced for Christmas, and a vintage champagne to come in the near future.
The Lombard et Médot House produces 1,600,000 bottles in the heart of Epernay. It possesses vast winemaking facilities, including several vat houses equipped with containers of from 15 to 250 hectos, providing the capacity to vinify each growth separately. Also arranged on the same floor there are 600-litre barrels of 3 or 4 wines “for wood ageing for six months of all or part of the cuvee, after the malolactic fermentation, to give it controlled oxidation”, as Christophe Pitois, assistant director and oenologist of the House, explains.


Christophe Pitois, Assistant Director and Thierry Lombard,
President in the vat house at the Maison Lombard.

The wine cellars are 36 feet underground, vast galleries that have been extended over the years, the oldest of which are of the original 18th century gritstone. The traditional style champagne bottles are aged here, arranged in metal crates, before they are riddled on Gyropalettes and disgorged by precisely-controlled automatic machines. Prestige cuvees and large bottles slumber in these cellars until they are hand riddled on racks and disgorged using the traditional methods.
The House takes the greatest of care over the wines to respect the terroir and the characteristics of the year – each wine is tasted to decide, on a case by case basis, whether or not it will undergo malolactic fermentation.

The Cuvée Brut reference, a blend of around fifty growths, predominantly Pinot Noir (80%) and Chardonnay (20%), was chosen by Olivier Poussier to be served on Air France's long-haul flights. “It is a fine expression of the House style, a champagne for all occasions, for all types of events”, the President tells us.

Champagne Lombard & Médot

1, rue des Côtelles - BP 118
51204 Epernay Cedex - France
Tél. : +33 (0) 3 26 59 57 40
www.champagne-lombard.com

Thierry Lombard presents Tanagra, the new Premium Cuvée.

“Grapes supplied from Premier and Grand Crus allow us to produce the Brut Premier Cru and Brut Grand Cru Cuvées, blended with equal amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; and to have a collection of historic vintage years for sale, such as the Brut Premier Cru 1999 in bottle and the Brut Premier Cru 1992 in Magnum…”.
At the end of the year, Champagne Lombard et Médot are introducing a Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, not vintage, composed exclusively of grapes from the most prestigious villages in Côte des Blancs, such as Avize, Cramant, Chouilly and Mesnil-sur-Oger, “A niche champagne for specialist retailers and the world of gastronomy”. And is launching a new range of exclusive cuvees called Tanagra Grand Cru, borrowing the name from the Ancient Greek town that produced figurines of great aesthetic beauty. For an exceptional cuvee, a unique bottle inspired by the world of perfume: a distinctive seventies-style bottle, with a slim neck, wide shoulder and slimmer base, identifiable from a distance.
Tanagra Brut is composed of a trilogy of Grands Crus: two Chardonnays and a Pinot Noir. The villages selected for the white grapes are Mesnil-sur-Oger for the mineral quality, Chouilly for the citrus notes; Verzenay was chosen for the black grapes for the finesse of the fruit. Tanagra Rosé is made by bleeding in limited quantities from a unique year and a single grape variety (Pinot Noir), from a Grand Cru (Verzenay), and from a single plot identified in the terroir, which gives it a beautiful aromatic expression of the fruit and finesse. These cuvees are presented in individual cases or in wooden boxes of six bottles. The Tanagra Millésime finishes maturing in the wine cellar.
The exclusive Tanagra cuvees add value to the heritage of the historical House of Lombard et Médot, but also embrace modernity with a flash code printed on the back label, a further indication as to the spirit of the wine. The latest news from Champagne Lombard et Médot is that they have just concluded a partnership agreement with Europe 1, to be present at all the radio station's evening events…

Marie-Caroline Bourrellis