The Lassalle Champagnes are made in the quiet village of Rilly la Montagne in a winery equipped with all the usual tools of the trade, but what makes the property so special is that beneath the presses and stainless steel tanks, an ancient, multi-level cellar complex extends deep underground. In the lowest levels, the raw limestone bedrock still bears the chisel marks from excavation nearly two centuries earlier, and the walls are etched with nineteenth-century tags—“Victor,” “A.F. 1863.” The three-level cellar is a fitting analog to the three generations of women who have managed the domaine and made the wine since founder Jules Lassalle’s passing in 1982—his wife Olga, his daughter Chantal Decelle-Lassalle, and now his granddaughter Angéline Templier. Just as the modern winery is built upon the cellars, with their accumulated history and lore, J. Lassalle is built upon the leadership, acumen, and palates of these women.
      Angéline produces several Champagnes, including vintage and Special Club bottlings, and now even a still red wine, but the cuvée that epitomizes the J. Lassalle house style is her Cachet Or. A blend of roughly one-third each Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay, it is patiently aged for at least three years prior to disgorgement. J. Lassalle Champagnes are renowned for their richness and elegance, qualities embodied here by a fine bead, aromas of lemon curd and toasty brioche, along with ripe fruit notes over brisk minerality. In the cellar, each bottle of Cachet Or is riddled by hand, every flick of the wrist repeated thousands of times, paralleling the chisel marks on the walls. It’s an exacting process that takes weeks, and while machines that automate and accelerate this process have long been available, at J. Lassalle, it is still done by hand just as it was when these cellars were built.