There have been five successive generations of Leclerc's, beginning with Lucien Leclerc in 1872 in the village of Cumiéres. In 1955, the house moved to the current premises it still occupies today in Épernay. In 2012, Leclerc Briant was saved from extinction when it was acquired by American couple Mark Nunelly and Denise Dupré, who fell in love with the nonconformist character of the House. They quickly appointed Hervé Jestin as Chief Winemaker and Frédéric Zeimatt as General Manager, two individuals with extensive experience in the industry. Leclerc Briant are renown winemaking pioneers, having been one of the first producers to stop using chemical fertilisers and to experiment with biodynamic vine cultivation back in the 1970s, and being one of the first houses to introduce single vineyards champagnes in the early 1990s. Today the entire vineyard is certified as organic and biodynamic. In addition, all the champagnes released onto the market are certified as vegan. The Maison own 14 hectares and buy grapes from another 15 hectares, both of which are farmed organic or biodynamic.

The first “Abyss” was specially created from the 2012 harvest for underwater ageing by Leclerc Briant, in association with Amphoris, a company specializing in undersea projects. 2018 is the very first vintage of Rosé Abyss, based on wines from the 2018 harvest, blended and bottled in June 2019, disgorged in July 2021 and then off to Brittany in September 2021 where it spends just over 10 months 60 meters under the sea before being retrieved in July 2022. The grapes that make up this cuvée were harvested from select Champagne villages, renowned for their specific limestone subsoil; carefully chosen terroirs that are in perfect resonance with the marine sediment located in the Bay of Stiff, at the eastern tip of the “Ile d’Ouessant” off the coast of France in Brittany.

Cuvée Abyss is a champagne with a resolutely maritime character which has benefited from being matured at the bottom of the sea. To taste it is to discover and appreciate the same mineral qualities that one finds in the chalky and sandy soils of the Champagne terroir where it had its origins.

Weather: 2018 was a very unusual year in more ways than one. After an exceptionally rainy winter, spring was very mild. The warmth brought with it stormy and sometimes destructive weather as well as variable rainfall throughout the appellation. Summer was very warm, dry and sunny and surpassed even the record breaking temperatures of 2003. 2018 is therefore a new benchmark for the Champagne region in terms of the heat, drought and sunshine levels.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Premier Cru | Chardonnay: Bisseuil |Pinot Noir: Les Riceys
Grape Varieties: 85% Chardonnay & 15% Pinot Noir (vinified as red wine)
Red wine: 15% from Les Riceys
Less Ageing: 2 years
Bottling date: June 2019
Disgorged: July 2021
Submerged: September 2021
Dosage: 0 g/l
Drink: Now to 2032

Tasting Note: The fragrant, evolving Pinot nose comes with savoury bitter cherry, sous bois and bitter almond notes. On the palate the Burgundian tones are further accentuated in the vinous and structured, bone-dry feel of the wine, the iodine-like mineral tones hinting at the months spend submerged in the sea. - Tasted by Essi Avellan MW

Read our article on how Abyss is made here.