The colour is pale gold, with fine, medium-lasting bubbles. On the nose citrusy and floral, with notes of bread. In the mouth similar citrusy and bakery aromas, with a medium long, fragrant finish.
This vintage champagne is made with 100% Chardonnay grapes from the Côte des Bar subregion of Champagne, located at the very south of the AOC.
When the Champagne production area was defined in 1908 the Aube department was left out of the the appellation. In 1911 the government went even further by declaring that wines made from grapes outside the appellation area could not be called Champagne. This meant that the Marne merchants could no longer get their grapes from winegrowers in the Aube. Troyes, the historic capital of the Champagne province, and its Aube vineyards found themselves ousted from the Champagne appellation. Anger mounted among Aube winegrowers and demonstrations broke out. One man very quickly established himself as the leader. It was Gaston Cheq. He had good connections, among them legal experts, who were to help him plead the cause of the Aube winegrowers. In 1927 Aube was officially included in the Champagne AOC.
To honour this man, in 1988 the Coteaux du Landion cooperative created the Champagne Gaston Cheq brand.
Coteaux du Landion cooperative in located in Meurville, in the Aube département. It was created in 1961. Nowadays, it has 80 members. In Champagne, as elsewhere, the main advantage of a cooperative is the pooling of production resources, but a cooperative offers much more than access to shared machinery. It brings together generations, personalities, ideas and know-how, in a model that ideally benefits from its diversity.
Blanc de Blancs is white Champagne made exclusively from white grapes, usually Chardonnay. Only a few producers use the other four grape varieties that the appellation laws permit: Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc (also known as Blanc Vrai in the region), Petit Meslier and Arbane.
For this bottle I paid 17.90 EUR at E. Leclerc Express in Brienne-le-Chateau. It was incorrectly priced as Brut. This bottle should have cost 24.90 EUR.
Country: France
Region: Champagne
Grapes: Chardonnay
Type: Sparkling
Vintage: 2015
Producer: Coopérative les Coteaux du Landion
Price range: Medium (15-30 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 4/5