TN: 2012 Lassalle Special Club premier cru

96 Cuvée Angeline made me fall in love with Lassalle. Popped a 2012 Special Club a decade early. Lovely wine full of finesse and sweet fruit. Midpalate is rich, long finish, very elegant and stately wine. Not many adjectives regarding the fruit but it’s super. All the elements bode for a longer and graceful evolution. Love this house. Need to learn more.

Alan, I’m always surprised that Lassalle doesn’t get more attention from wine geeks. I have enjoyed every wine I’ve had from them and just recently finished my last '07 Angeline, which was delicious and still a little on the young side. It was just a quick KL trip visit there, but they seemed like really nice women, too. Here’s three generations:
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Had my first Lassalle this fall, the NV rose which I thought was terrific stuff. At ~$55, a little higher than I normally pay for a NV, but well worth the price. Thanks for the note on the special club.

Try the '08, even better.

Hard to find the Angeline anymore, but was always a favorite. Will have to try the Special Club.

Happy New Year everyone!

My note from last night. (Please bear in mind I recently had covid and that might be affecting my taste/smell but maybe it isn’t.)

2012 J. Lassalle Champagne Premier Cru Special Club > - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (12/31/2021)
New Year’s Eve Champagne. This is a well-made Champagne but is not in my preferred style. Still, I can appreciate that, for those who enjoy the style, it is very good.

Disgorged October 22, 2020 (date printed on the glass of the bottle itself toward the bottom).

Ultra fine bubbles. An almost equal balance between apples cooked in butter and bread dough with some hints of spiciness. Rich and full body. Good acidity if I’m trying to be objective, but I really wish they had not done full malolactic for 2012, even if it is the house style. It softened the acidity too much for my taste. Perhaps disgorging earlier and/or lowering the dosage might have helped with this, but either approach could have created other problems (again for my preferences). The long finish adds an ephemeral hint of lemon and some nuttiness (not enough to be marzipan though the empty glass does smell like marzipan after a few minutes).

Let me stress that, despite my critique, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would when first smelling it. That’s probably because the flavors and antioxidant qualities of the lees aging (almost 8 years if my math is right) dominate (and might even counteract?) any prior oxidative effects that probably accompanied the full malolactic fermentation. Not to say that this comes across as reductive. But it’s not especially oxidative either. It’s fairly balanced in that sense. I usually want a more reductive style but if you enjoy this style, then aging will probably tease out more complexity.

On the issue of aging, I see that some notes from early 2021 here and on WB, and even Galloni’s note from 11/20, talk about lots of citrus and bright fruit flavors. If those disgorgements happened at the same time as my bottle, there simply wasn’t enough time for the Maillard-like reactions with the dosage to fully take place. Those need at least 6 months to pan out, which is why disgorgement dates matter so much in tasting notes for any Champagne (except maybe non-dose). I think the profile for the long haul will be more like this note and Wine_Poobah’s note from Nov 2021 have it.

I won’t object to drinking more of this but, since it isn’t my preferred style, I might sell my remaining bottles.