A Trip To Champagne Paul Launois

14th August 2020

Chris Walkey & Paul Launois

Husband and wife, Julien and Sarah Launois design their cuvées from family vines made from Chardonnay Grand Cru grapes planted in Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Côte des Blancs. From the vine to the bottle of Champagne, they strive to work as naturally as possible and to respect the environment.

Julien is the inventor of the Single Barrel concept, allowing you to make your own unique Champagne.

After seeing multiple pictures of his floating barrels down in his cellars, I was treated to seeing them in real life and actually getting to smell the Champagne in a couple of barrels to see the unique aromas that each produces.

We took a big old fashioned lift down into his cellars, where he showed us his floating barrels and riddling station, even sharing his riddling playlist.

After rising back to the surface in his lift, we went to his tasting room where we tasted his range of Champagnes, along with a couple of bottles from his Single Barrel stock, you could taste that each Single Barrel Champagne was different, thanks to how much the barrel was heated before it stored the Champagne.

He offers 6 levels of burntness on his barrels to help create different aromas and flavours with level 6 giving you lovely powerful pleasant Oaky & Toasty flavours.

smart

You can watch the live streamed video right here of our tasting.

The Champagne Launois family are happy to welcome you to their winery to explore their Champagne, they also have guest rooms for you to stay and enjoy the whole experience.

Oliver Walkey

Champagne and Sparkling Wine Writer, Focused on Bringing the Exciting and Fascinating World of Bubbly to You.