A visit to Champagne Laurent Lequart

I was very pleased to have the opportunity to meet Laurent Lequart from Champagne Laurent Lequart, a house with 10 hectares of vineyards located in the village of Passy Grigny that lays in the heart of the Marne Valley. A small family grower Champagne using local cooperative operations to collect and press its grapes (Dom Caudron cooperative which is a very modern and sleek operation serving varied labels in the immediate region) and then Laurent adds his own unique style of producing a selection of 10 labels under their brand.

Passy Grigny is a fine example of a Champagne village with a community of several hundred including varied Champagne producers and one main cooperative. Champagne Laurent Lequart is a firm part of the wine growing community, four generations of family wine makers and with a mindset of quality of quantity via a production of approx 80,000 bottles per year. They are focused also on their organic wine-making techniques with focus on respecting todays environment and allowing as best as they can for nature to produce the quality that a label carrying the name of Champagne requires.

As with any wine it is mostly down to what is in the bottle and this is where Laurent’s passion comes alive. I was pleased to have a private tasting with Laurent and Kevin Sibille, who works closely with the Laurent Lequart brand, where I was able to experience their unique style of Champagne. Food pairing is always an important subject in my mind when ever tasting wines so I was pleased that Laurent held the same passion when I asked him some questions:

How important is food pairing to your selection of Champagne?

Today pairing food and Champagne is an important subject and I am pleased that more and more people are seeing Champagne as a perfect gastronomic wine for many foods.

Can you suggest some fine food pairings to match with your wines?

Many of our wines pair perfectly with food. For example we have our brut reserve which I suggest pairs with fish dishes, fresh fruit salads and I would even say is the perfect match for that late breakfast / brunch. Our brut nature is great with lobster, tune and salmon. The extra brut I’d suggest to accompany white meats with creamy sauce, soft cheese and foie gras. 

I was also lucky and appreciative to Laurent that he brought out a bottle of his vintage 2000. This wine has a blend of 50% pinot meunier and 50% chardonnay and has six month ageing in old oak barrels. The wine has a deep golden colour and lively mousse with an aroma of apricot pastry, honey and buttered toast. The taste is a toasty, creamy, brioche, yellow stone fruits experience with hints of coffee/cocoa in the length in mouth.