Legrand-Latour - Eocene 2021

L'Éocène is the culmination of a beautiful geological trilogy by Legrand-Latour, a champagne that encompasses the entire Eocene epoch, a geological era spanning from 56 to 34 million years ago. This period shaped the deep foundations of the Verneuil and Vandières terroirs, where successive landslides and rockfalls concentrated a unique mosaic of geological strata at the bottom of the hillside. It is in this underground complexity, in this superposition of millennia of sedimentation, that the sensory richness of this champagne is born.

This 2021 Brut Nature blend combines 75% Meunier and 25% Chardonnay, two grape varieties that masterfully express the complex and multi-layered geology of the Marne Valley terroirs. Twelve months in barrels on lees, drawn on grape must in September 2022, with no added sugar and no added sulfur. The front label, illustrating a superb geological cross-section of the hillside, perfectly symbolizes this vision of champagne as a vertical expression of geological time. Every grain of sand, every limestone crystal, every layer of clay tells an ancient story, a slow and implacable evolution of landscapes.

On the palate, L'Éocène reveals all the amplitude and generosity that a beautiful Meunier dominance can offer on these privileged terroirs. The deep black color with ruby reflections speaks of balanced maturity and fine aging. The aromas unfold generously: ripe red fruits, golden brioche, hints of undergrowth, and a distinct chalky minerality. The Brut Nature allows for a completely natural expression of the terroir and time, without chemical artifice. It is a champagne of contemplation, history, and geology, to be savored calmly in an open decanter, which gradually reveals the stratifications of flavors and minerals that the terroir has accumulated over millions of years.