Lanson Vintage Collection 1976 Champagne 1.5L

The House of Lanson is one of a select few to possess a truly impressive collection of fine vintage champagnes. Each coveted bottle has been carefully crafted by the longstanding Chef des Caves whose passion and devotion complements the classical blending techniques of preceding generations. The marriage of the finest selection of grapes from a single year, each champagne in the Lanson Vintage Collection is the epitome of true craftsmanship and reflects the House’s perpetual quest for excellence. A small number of bottles that date back to 1976 are proposed to a restricted circle of connoisseurs each year.

Weather: The 1976 season was a warm vintage overall, with flowering in early June. A very hot and dry summer produced grapes of great maturity and quality with very high potential alcohol levels. Champagnes from this vintage are rich, vinous and soft with heaps of character without overbearing strength.

News Article: Read about the history of the Lanson Vintage Collection magnums here.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: Chardonny: Avize, Cramant, Oger, Les Mesnil sur Oger, Trepail | Pinot Noir: Ay, Verzenay, Verzy, Bouzy, Ambonnay, Dizy
Grape Varieties: 53% Chardonnay 47% Pinot Noir
Ageing: 39 years on the lees
Disgorged: January 2017
Alcohol: 12.5%
Drink: Now to 2050+

Tasting Note: A deep golden colour with a steady stream of bubbles. On the nose aromas of dried fig, mirabelle plum and prunes. The palate has a deep nuttiness, rich in fruits and very complex. The mouthfeel is smooth and elegant with still balanced acidity. The finish is lingering and long.

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. 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

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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.