Herve Dantan - Champagne - Maison Lanson

For listeners who may not know, can you tell us a little about the history of Maison Lanson and why it's such an important champagne house?

So Lan- Lanson is one of the oldest house of Champagne that has been founded in 1760.

Wow.

Uh, it is, uh, today still a, a family-owned business, uh, with a champagne house that is owned by, uh, three, uh, Champagne families, so that's, uh, unique in Champagne.

And that's a house that, uh, still has a, a very special style that is based on the freshness of the wines.

Uh, we still have a method of vinification that is, uh, unique by, uh, avoiding malolactic fermentation, uh, on our wines, uh, to keep this, uh, incredible freshness that will, uh, be revealed in the wine with, uh, wines that are always, uh, very refreshing and, uh, crispy.

Beautiful.

You often speak about the importance of relationships with grape growers.

Why are those partnerships so critical to producing exceptional champagne?

Uh, like, uh, all the, the houses of Champagne, uh, we have our own vineyard and we also have, uh, uh, contracts with, um, uh, growers who, who are our suppliers.

And, uh, that's very important to have very strong relationships with them, uh, to be sure that the quality of the grapes will be, uh, outstanding.

And, uh, you need to see them, uh, many times in a year, and that's my role also at Lanson, uh, to follow them to be sure that-Uh, the quality of the grapes will be, uh, as, as good as possible.

Uh, and, uh, I have many meeting with them, uh, at Lanson, but also, uh, uh, on their vineyard because we have, uh, uh, very strong links with them, uh, not only, uh, a contract with the price and the quantity, but we are also involved in a sustainable viticulture with them.

So we, we advise them about what they need to do and, uh, about what we want from them for the quality of the grapes, and we are also, uh, very involved in the vineyard, especially, uh, uh, now, uh, because in Champagne now we have, uh, the flowering process.

Harvest will be in, uh, in two months and, uh, last week, for example, and next week-

Uh-huh

... uh, I will be in Champagne in the vineyard, uh, with many of them, uh, to follow what is happening in the vineyard and to foresee what the, that we need to do, uh, for the, the quality of the grapes.

And, uh, just before the harvest we are also very involved in the dates of picking that are very important.

Yeah.