Winegrower Chouilly
Legras & Haas in Chouilly:
the school of demand
Quality ensues from an almost minimalist approach that does not yield to trends.
One of its cuvées’ name expresses all its philosophy: Exigency.
Born in 1991, the House Legras & Haas swiftly built up an image of rigour, constancy and excellence.
“Our style is the result of a sum of little things belonging to us.
We perpetuate precise gestures. This special attention accorded to details is our trademark.” Rémi Legras explains.
At the side of his father François and his two brothers, Jérôme and Olivier, he participates in giving a soul to this trade house that has been created by François Legras and Brigitte Haas, whose wine growers roots date back to the 17th century.
Settled in Chouilly on this terroir of Chardonnay Grand Cru where it owns 15 hectares,
the House also has a family vineyard in the Riceys—7 hectares of Pinot Noir—and in the Perthois region—13 hectares of Chardonnay. To enrich and vary this own supply, it calls in some wine growers from Aÿ who are famous for their seriousness and skills. This contribution is essential to the making of some cuvées like the Brut Tradition or the Cuvée Exigence, one of the jewels of the range, a blend of grands crus from Chouilly and Aÿ.
The goal of the House certainly remains to create great Blancs de Blancs from a terroir that gives wines of exceptional quality thanks to traditional working methods.
“We see to avoid actions that may alter the fruit and we are much attached to the ageing potential of our wines,” Rémi underlines,
“while trying to always be a length ahead.”This is shown by the experimental vineyard of two meters high and 70 ares of surface area, grown in collaboration with the INAO and the CIVC in order to meet the new environmental and social requirements. Reasoned control methods are practiced there, as well as two different ways of vine training— permanent cordon and Guyot—that will enable to reduce a bit the harvest and obtain greater freshness in the wines.
“Our concern is to meet the expectations of a changing world. And to transpose, each time it is possible, these experimental trials on classical vineyards. It mainly is a time investment as we do not mechanize this plot. On the other hand this approach is rich in terms of education.”
“We put only the wine forward”Legras&Haas cleverly uses the richness of the supply with the good maturity of Chouilly's vineyard, the freshness of Perthois’ and the powerfulness of the Riceys' that gives a lot of structure to the Champagne Rosé especially. The vine growing is done with a minimum of inputs. And the vinification with very few oenological products.
“The quality is the result of the care given to a sum of small details. It is the addition of gestures repeated at the right moment as our father taught us. We protect the wines as much as possible from oxygen” Rémi explains.
“No ageing in barrels, no racking with air, no fining: an almost minimalist vinification. It is part of the transmission of the knowledge.” Jérôme Legras adds.
“We try to put only the wine forward whereas others prefer to leave their mark on it.” Rémi completes.
Choices that bear fruit. Legras & Haas is marketed in 17 countries and 2/3 of its sales are exports, mainly in Germany where Brigitte Haas was born, but also in Sweden and Brazil.
“We also are very present in the catering field” Jérôme asserts.
The range, in which magnums have a big part, is composed of six wines that are lavished with attention. From the particularly greedy vintage 2005 to the Extra Brut, very appreciated by the connoisseurs, there is one common denominator: the light dosage that enables to preserve elegance and purity of all the cuvées.
Jean Batilliet
Crédit Photo : Horizon Bleu
Maison Legras & Haas
9 Grande Rue - 51530 CHOUILLY
Tél.: +33 (0)3 26 54 92 90
Fax: +33 (0)3 26 55 16 78
www.legras-et-haas.com
