Gert Crum visited Jérôme Coessens, but had to stay a little longer …
Gert Crum (Twitter and Facebook.)
Published: May 20th 2019
The family of Jérôme Coessens (1972) is originally from Flanders, but his grandfather was born in France in 1906. He produces 8 different wines from the Largillier vineyard, where he is the sole owner. Largillier is therefore a monopole – no one else produces wine from this lieu-dit.
Jérôme has divided Largillier into four sections, with the names:
- Minéral,
- Fleurs,
- Matière and
- Fruits,
Since the 2012 harvest, the family has produced 8 different cuvée’s from this vineyard with its one single variety.
The character of Champagne Coessens can be summed up in one word: Exclusive!
The soil in LARGILLIER is a combination of clay and limestone.
It’s poor soil that provides little nourishment for the vines, but that, in turn, promotes excellent maturity in the grapes and gives them all the potential for truly great wines. A taste that’s pure and that speaks of its terroir..
The Largillier Blanc de Noirs Brut 2012 is a blend of the Minéral and Fruits sections.
This cuvée accounts for approximately half of the total production. It has a light sweetness and at the same time is very mineral. That slight sweetness is not entirely surprising, with a dosage of 8 grams per litre.
The wine needs those 8 grams (in other years 6, 7 or 9 grams and in 2008 12 grams/litre) to resist the minerality – it’s about balance. It is a sturdy, broad-tasting champagne with aromas of white flowers.
The Largillier Brut Nature 2013 is exclusively made from grapes from the Minéral section.
It is lively and energetic. Very mineral and tight with a fine bitterness in the aftertaste.
The Largillier Extra Brut 2010 is produced with grapes from the Matière section.
It’s a champagne with matière!
Concentrated, rich, mineral and long. Horizontal and vertical at the same time. You taste the wet limestone, and the saltiness as well. The mouthfeel is soft and airy.
A true gourmet champagne. A real wine.
The Largillier Rosé Brut 2014 comes from the Matière section.
The colour is like red copper. The mousse is not too intense, but just soft. It has a pleasant mouthfeel.
Aromas of red and black cherries, like the little red fruit of a wine from the Côte de Nuits.
The dosage is 8 grams per litre.
The Largillier Les Sens Boisés Brut 2011 is named as such, because the entire vinification, from alcoholic fermentation, through malolactic conversion to stabilization, takes place in oak barrels.
They are 5 to 6 years old barrels from Chablisien Benoît Droin.
The 2011 was bottled at the beginning of May 2012 and subsequently lay sur lattes for over 4 years. It has a dosage of 6 grams per litre.
It is a fine champagne with aromas of grapefruit and other citrus fruit and also pear. The champagne has energy.
The Largillier Caresse d’Automne Brut comes from a solera that started in 2006.
The 2012 tirage therefore consists of a blend from the years 2006-2011 and the fruit comes all from four plots.
This cuvée lives up to its name. It has aromas of autumn, is rich and ripe.
The Largillier Coteaux Champenois Rouge 2014 the cuvée vendange égrappée is a still wine made with destemmed grapes from the Matière section.
The vines for this wine are systematically pruned more strictly, so that the yield is always below 30 hl per ha.
The grapes are harvested a month later than the grapes for the champagnes, when they have a potential natural alcohol of 13 percent.
The maceration takes more than two weeks and after pressing and fermentation, the wine remains on oak pièces for 21 months. The wood is new and has a medium toasting. It only needs 2 new barrels because fewer than 600 bottles are produced.
The wine has concentration and power with aromas of very ripe red and black fruit.
The Largillier Coteaux Champenois Rouge 2014 but now the cuvée vendange entières so from grapes fermenting as whole bunches of grapes.
Furthermore, the vinification is entirely the same as that of the above-mentioned Largillier Coteaux Champenois, except that the 4 barrels for this wine are considerably older.
The differences between the two are not very large, but this version is just a bit finer and more complex.
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