"In Champagne, one of the most northerly of vine growing regions, the concept of a consistent tasting non-vintage cuvée was developed in order to help a producer disguise any problems caused by a difficult growing season; however, the downside to this is that in great years the better qualities in the raw materials which are available to the winemaker have to be sacrificed in order to maintain a House blend.

At Jacquesson we are fortunate to have some exceptional terroirs, all Premiers and Grands Crus from La Grande Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs. Our viticulture relies on time-honoured principles, we use only the  cuvée from each pressing and have absolutely no hesitation, in difficult vintages, in rejecting juice which doesn’t meet our standards. As a result, our multi-vintage wines retain the best of every harvest and we are proud to be able to say that they faithfully reflect the characteristics of the base vintage whilst benefiting from the addition of some vins de réserve.

Therefore, our wines have a personality which can be quite different depending on their base vintage, which means they each need to have their own identity. Thus, Cuvée N° 735, based on the 2007 vintage, succeeds Cuvée N° 734 which was based on that of 2006.The weather in 2007 was full of contrasts : the winter was the mildest since 1960, on a par with 1990, while the spring was positively summer-like, the warmest (apart from 1997) in thirty years. Both seasons suffered record rainfall, and as a result the vines were very vigorous. Everything changed in the summer, the coldest for ten years with the lowest recorded sunshine for 30 years. These difficult conditions encouraged mildew and, above all, botrytis, which struck as early as July. And the grapes continued to grow… But it is in difficult conditions such as these that our rigorous viticulture really begins to bear fruit : our cover cropping competed with the vines for nourishment, curbing their vigour and slowing the growth of the berries. Happily, on 25th August, some good weather arrived to stay, allowing the grapes to finish maturing under favourable conditions and, above all, free from attack by botrytis.The wines were vinified as usual, in large oak casks on their lees, with weekly batonnage and with absolutely no filtration. The sharp contrasts in the weather throughout the year were reflected when tasting the  vins clairs. The chardonnays were fine, complex and mineral; the pinot noirs were a bit more varied, the best showing the power and maturity that one looks for; the pinot meuniers were less consistent, with quite good fruit but less power than expected.

The blend of Cuvée n° 735 is 47% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier and the wines from the 2007 harvest were completed with reserve wines from 2006 (22%) and 2006 (6%). 332,600 bottles, 14,470 magnums and 416 jeroboams were produced."

"Cuvée No 733, based on the 2005 vintage, succeeds Cuvée No 732 which was based on the 2004 vintage.

There were no dramas with the weather in 2005. Winter was cold and dry, spring mild and tranquil, July a bit wetter than optimal so that the heat and humidity experienced between 15 August and 15 September favoured the development of botrytis. Happily, harvest took place in a second half of September that was blessed with sunny weather and the final stages of ripening took place under very good weather conditions. As so often happens, our rigorous viticulture allowed us to perform better than the potential of the vintage might have suggested and we were very satisfied with the quality of our musts which were well balanced with 10.5 degrees potential alcohol and about 7 gm/l acidity.

The wines were vinified, as usual, in large oak casks on their lees, with weekly bâtonnage and with absolutely no filtration. The Chardonnays were very aromatic and balanced with good potential for ageing, the Pinot Noirs were fine and vinous while the Pinot Meuniers were fruity but less complex. The blend is composed of 52% Chardonnay, 24% Pinot Noir and 24% Pinot Meunier and the wines from the 2005 harvest were completed with reserve wines from 2004 (16%) and 2001 (6%). 319,862 bottles, 10,521 magnums and 300 jeroboams were produced"