Average rating 4.9/5 stars across all Google and external reviews
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Bought directly from Lanson UK Ltd, the bottles are stored in bond at London City Bond Eton Park, in ideal conditions at a constant 13°C. For same-day deliveries, small quantities are kept in our office cellar, where the temperature is maintained between 11–13°C. We source all our bottles directly from the Maison or their official UK office, eliminating the risk of poor storage. This is crucial, as champagne quality is highly sensitive to heat: temperatures above 18°C accelerate maturity significantly, which compromises quality.
Founded in 1760, Champagne Lanson is one of the oldest producers in the region, with a rich history embedded in the famous city of Reims. The red cross in the logo comes from, Nicolas-Louis Delamotte who in 1798 took over from his father and as a knight of the Order of Malta, decided to use the Maltese Cross as the House's emblem. Developing steadily and winning numerous awards over the years, they gained real prominence in the 1900s, becoming official supplier to the British court. Lanson has changed ownership many times in the last 50 years, the most significant change in 1990 when it was bought by LVMH who re-sold a few months later in 1991, keeping 210 hectares of vineyards, at the time considered the best vineyard holdings of all the large Maison. In 2006 Lanson became part of what is now the Lanson BCC Group. Today Lanson sources grapes from over 500 hectares across 60 villages.
Weather: The 2006 vintage was a year of mixed weather. It began with a rainy spell and late spring, but with little or no frost in the vineyards. Early summer was positive, with the months of June and July creating perfect conditions for flowering. Although there were some storms in late-July, the overall health of the vines was great since the weather remained hot through to the harvest with spells of rain in August promoting even healthier grapes.
Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand Cru | Clos Lanson
Grape Varietes: 100% Chardonnay
Lees Ageing: 7 years
Disgorged: December 2014
Dosage: 3 g/l
Drink: Now to 2030
Tasting Note:A pale golden colour with a stream of fine bubbles. Initially on the nose there are hints of lemon and roasted apples. On the palate it is very delicate: lemon and ripe fruits are abundant, leading to a mid-palate of toasted biscuits and vanilla. The length of flavour is long at the finish and there is so much fruit in this champagne you just can't believe it has such little dosage.
Founded in 1760, Champagne Lanson is one of the oldest producers in the region, with a rich history embedded in the famous city of Reims. The red cross in the logo comes from, Nicolas-Louis Delamotte who in 1798 took over from his father and as a knight of the Order of Malta, decided to use the Maltese Cross as the House’s emblem. Developing steadily and winning numerous awards over the years, they gained real prominence in the 1900s, becoming official supplier to the British court. This strong relationship with Great Britain was further cemented in 1937, when owner at the time Victor Lanson named their non-vintage dry champagne Black Label, in honour of Lanson's biggest market. Champagne Lanson has also sponsored the The Championships, Wimbledon - one of the UK's oldest and most traditional sporting competitions - for over forty years.
Traditionally favouring a high-acidity style with blocked malolactic fermentation, Lanson has changed considerably under new Chef de Caves, Hervé Dantan. Universally blocking malolactic fermentation has been discarded to produce a softer and more complex style. More recently, in efforts directed towards image building, Lanson have begun displaying disgorgement dates on their bottles. Their cellars have also undergone an impressive makeover, affording this most historic of Champagne Houses an ultra-modern HQ.
Cellar Master: Hervé Dantan
Winery Location: Reims | Champagne, France
Champagne Region: Montagne de Reims
Annual Production (bottles): 5,000,000
Hervé Dantan - 2015 to current Herve joined Lanson in 2013 having spent 22 years as cellar master at Mailly Grand Cru cooperative. During the next two years he learnt the secrets about Lanson cuvee's from the outgoing chef de cave. During his time Herve has overseen many changes, the most significant was evolving their NV blend from a champagne with no wines going through the MLF, malo lactic fermentation, to creating a blend where some of the wines were put through the MLF. This gives a champagne easier to drink when younger and with a more generous fruit profile. He also continued to introduce Clos Lanson to its distributorship which was launching as he joined in 2013. This single clos, across the road from the Lanson winery, is a prestige cuvee Blanc de Blancs, showing a delicious yellow fruit profile and a touch of spice from barrel fermentation. In addition Herve created the Lanson Green Label champagne from all organically farmed grapes. Herve has more recently been involved in establishing a new Clos for Lanson, planted with Pinot Noir, champagne from their new Clos we will see in the late 2020's.
Jean-Paul Gandon - 1987 to 2015 Born in Touraine, studied viticulture and winemaking in Burgundy, joining Lanson in 1972, by 1982 he oversaw Lanson's vineyards and and took charge of the winemaking and cellars in January 1987. From the 2006 vintage Jean-Paul started bottling the single vineyard Blanc de Blancs from Clos Lanson, no malolactic and barrel fermented this was the new prestige champagne in the range, launched in 2013 as Jean-Paul began handing over to his successor Herve Danton. To celebrate Lanson's 250th anniversary in 2010 Jean-Paul was given the honour of creating Lanson Extra Age from nearly all Grand Cru fruit with five years lees ageing, a sensationally champagne to this day, though in 2020 the winery stopped making it. This quote speaks for itself:
"Throughout the Lanson saga, and its changes of ownership, this honest man has always remained faithful to the words of Victor Lanson “The House of Lanson makes wine in the style originally established in 1760”. To retain the Lanson style, the wines do not undergo the malolactic fermentation because, he explains, “malic acid is the ideal support for the aromas of fresh fruits”. The flavours of apple, pear and grape are one of the 3 components of the Black Label Brut of Champagne Lanson. The second distinction is their power, their body, their generosity, due to the majority of Pinot Noir in the composition of the blend. The third is their freshness and longevity, deriving from the absence of the malolactic fermentation.
To help appreciate the evolution of the wines, this demanding and perfectionist man puts the disgorgement date on all the Lanson Champagnes. The first age (under 3 years) is the period of fresh fruit and floral notes; the second age (between 3 and 5 years) that of maturity, showing flavours of ripe fruits and warm patisserie; in the third age, that of fullness, the wines develop tertiary aromas and toasted notes. With the mature cuvees, the dosage is low, (3g/l). Very precise, at all the stages of the vinification, Jean-Paul Gandon points out that, with the changes in climate, Champagnes have lost some of their vivacity and tightness and explains that, thirty years ago, the acid level of the wines was normally around 8-9 grams at harvest whereas in the past twenty years it has been more likely to have been between 7 and 8gr/l. 2013, this continental year with the harvest at the end of September brings us back perhaps to something more like those we have known in the past?"
Bernard Gasco - 1955 to January 1987 Bernard Gasco was born in December 1927 and died in a car accident in January 1987. He began his career at Lanson in 1949 after completing various internships. After starting as a joint wine maker with Monsieur Charlemagne he became Chef de Caves in 1955, respecting the style of the House while turning to ever more modernity and introducing stainless steel for both fermentations and reserve wine storage.
Expert Reviews
17.5/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“100% Chardonnay. Seven years' ageing on lees. Disgorged December 2014. Dosage 3 g/l. Tasted blind. Greenish deep straw. Creamy, lively nose. Fairly high dosage. I was going to guess Comtes until I saw that it wasn’t in the line-up! Slightly pinched finish. But then a peacock’s tail. The richest of these wines. Drink 2014-2023”
16.5/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“100% Chardonnay in a special walled, so early-ripening, eighteenth-century vineyard in Reims. Part of it was planted in 1962 and part in 1986 after the frosts of 1985. What happened to these grapes before Clos Lanson was bottled separately to celebrate Philippe Bejot’s acquisition of Lanson in 2006? They went into vintage and Black Label. Fermented in pièces from Burgundy and 300-litre casks from Argonne. Smoky nose. So distinctive! A bit like Laphroaig malt whisky! The oak still rather marks it but Hervé claims it’s ideal to drink now. Good acidity but there are definite oak overlays. Fruit is a tad weak for the moment, but should come out from behind the oak eventually. Good saline quality. Again, not one of the most intense on the finish. Drink 2020-2030”
93/100
Antonio Galloni
“The 2006 Clos Lanson is bright, focused and exceptionally pure. Veins of underlying acidity and chalkiness give the 2006 its super-distinctive, saline-driven personality. Lemon peel, white flowers, chalk and white pepper develop in the glass, adding further dimensions of nuance. With time in the glass, the 2006 acquires lovely textural brilliance, but it remains tense, crystalline and absolutely impeccable in its purity. The aromatics could use a bit more finesse and freshness, but otherwise this is a solid debut. Clos Lanson is fermented entirely in barrel, but the oak is very nicely integrated. Disgorged December, 2014.”
93+/100
Stephan Reinhardt
“From the immured one-hectare vineyard on the top of the hill, which also harbors the cellar of Champagne Lanson that dates back into the 18th century, the 2006 Clos Lanson is 100% first press Chardonnay from a very fine, chalky soil. It was fermented and aged in Argonne oak until spring 2007 (no malolactic fermentation), and disgorged after seven and a half years on the lees in December 2014 as Brut Nature with a dosage of three grams per liter. This bright yellow-golden colored prestige Champagne offers a brilliant nose of pure and ripe Chardonnay, along with delicate chalky flavors. Full and round on the palate, with a nice freshness and purity, this is a very elegant and well-balanced Blanc de Blancs. it has an aromatic as well as clear, fresh and mineral finish. This very first release has a very good length and characteristic mineral taste, with iodine notes along with ripe fruit and vanilla brioche flavors in the finish. This is a great new entry in the Lanson portfolio and it will improve with age. Total production is 7,870 serially numbered bottles.”
16.5+/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“A new bottling on me in a broad, straight-sided flask from a single plot in Reims next to the cellars. 100% Chardonnay. Disgorged December 2014. Pale golden straw. Impressive aromatic completeness and integration on the nose – although one is hit by Lanson’s trademark high acidity on the palate. Very firm and still quite chewy. Tastes pretty youthful and aggressively frothy. I’d hold on to this for quite a while. Embryonic. 12%”
93/100
Michael Edwards
“Generous fruit from the weathered chalk site is enhanced by a bright acidity, triggering mineral complexities. So delicious, tout en plaisir. The mineral imprint makes it a great match for ocean fish, especially turbot. A lovely surprise from the warm walled clos. ”
93/100
Essi Avellan MW
“Rich golden colour. Highly expressive nose with tropical fruit, smoky layers sweet brioche and spicy vanilla aromas and finely integrated note of high-quality oak. Voluptuous, round, fleshy palate that is mouth-filling at first until the fine, zesty acidity kicks in and lifts the palate. The finish is minerality driven, fresh and succulent, emphasizing fruit purity. Great intensity and length.”
Ever wondered what makes a good vintage and which years were the best in Champagne? This is the Champagne Vintage Guide, their overall ratings according to Essi Avellan MW and the best releases of the Vintage year.
Lanson Chef de Cave Hervé Dantan is a huge fan of vintage 2018, telling us: "It was a dream, this harvest." We visited the house in Reims earlier this year to sample the vins clairs and conduct a vertical tasting of all the Clos Lanson vintages from 2006-2014.
The Lanson Vintage Collection - old magnums kept on the lees and late-disgorged to express newfound complexity - comprises champagnes more than a century old. Every year, a few magnums from 1976 and subsequent vintages are released to a limited circle of enthusiasts and connoisseurs.
Our vins clairs visit to Champagne ended at Lanson, with Chef de Cave Hervé Dantan. Here we tasted a comprehensive range of base wines, current champagne releases and some stunning magnums of Vintage Collection, from 1979-1990.
The first ever Noble Cuvée Blanc de Blancs and Brut vintages; Black Label NV blends based on the last vintage of the previous six decades; and a comparison of vintage and prestige cuvée. Our recent trip to Lanson had it all.
Big changes have occurred at Champagne Lanson since Chef de Caves, Hervé Dantan took the reins two years ago. We sampled the 2016 Vins Clairs, the latest Black Label NV blend and Clos Lanson 2016 as Hervé talked us through the new developments.
