Lanson Vintage Collection 1976 Champagne 1.5L

Lanson History

The house of Lanson was founded in 1760 by François Delamotte, an influential character in Reims society. The joint owner, alongside his wife, of a substantial vineyard in Aÿ and Cumières, he decided to found his own Champagne house - one of the first ever to exist. In 1798, his younger son Nicolas-Louis Delamotte took over the business. Having been admitted as a knight of the Order of Malta at a very young age, he decided to use the Maltese Cross as the House’s emblem. Now revised, the Lanson cross has become the icon of the company.

Jean-Baptiste Lanson, a long-standing friend and later associate of the Delamottes, gradually began to play an increasingly important role in the management of the House. After an agreement between the two families, he succeeded Nicolas-Louis Delamotte after his death and renamed the business Maison J-B Lanson et Compagnie. Jean- Baptiste worked to develop the business outside of France and particularly in Great Britain. He signed the first exclusive agent’s contract with the well-established Percy Fox company in London: a contract which lasted a hundred years and gave the house a dominant position in Great Britain.

In 1855 Victor-Marie Lanson, Jean-Baptiste’s son, took over the running of the house, at which point the name changed to Lanson Père et Fils. The house developed steadily and won increasing numbers of admirers among connoisseurs, including crowned heads – the House of Lanson has been the official supplier to the British court since 1900, when Henri Marie Lanson was awarded the title of ‘Purveyor of Champagne to Her Majesty’ by Queen Victoria. Later, Lanson also became the only Champagne of the principality of Monaco. In recognition of this honour, the House developed a special design to include Monaco’s symbolic chessboard pattern.

Victor Lanson then took the helm in 1928. He had a considerable in influence on the history of the house and would become known as the ‘great ambassador of Champagne’. In 1937, he wanted to promote sales of non-vintage dry wine and decided to name the blend Black Label in honour of the house’s biggest market, Great Britain. He was also one of the first to develop rosé champagne.

Etienne Lanson, one of Victor’s sons, joined the house alongside his father and eventualy took over in 1967. He decided to conserve vintages in the cellars to develop a unique wine library, from which the house still benefits today. In 1972, Jean-Paul Gandon joined the house and in 1986 became chief winemaker – a role he held for almost three decades!

In 2013, Hervé Dantan joined Champagne Lanson, working alongside Jean-Paul Gandon. In 2015, after two years of sharing and passing on the secrets of Lanson’s production, he assumed the great responsibility of Chef de Cave and has overseen extensive development at the house in recent years.