David Leclapart

About

Champagne David Léclapart is a récoltant-manipulant grower estate in Trépail (Premier Cru, Montagne de Reims), one of the most celebrated names in artisan grower Champagne. David Léclapart took over the family's 3-hectare domaine (spread across roughly 20-22 parcels) after his father's death in 1996-97, releasing his first cuvées under his own name in 1998. He converted the estate to biodynamic farming immediately, achieving Ecocert/Demeter certification in 2000, and works without any chemical inputs in the vineyard or cellar: hand harvesting, horse ploughing, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, no fining or filtration, and sulphur kept to a strict minimum. Each cuvée is a single-vintage, single-plot or single-variety wine with no reserve wine blending, so as to let the vagaries of each harvest show through; cuvées are labelled with an LV ('Lot de Vendange') harvest-year code rather than a statutory 'Millésime' declaration. The range comprises L'Amateur (steel-vinified Blanc de Blancs), L'Artiste (partially barrel-fermented Blanc de Blancs), L'Astre (Blanc de Noirs, 100% Pinot Noir), the prestige single-vineyard bottlings L'Apôtre (100% Chardonnay from the 'Pierre Saint-Martin' plot planted in 1946) and L'Aphrodisiaque (a Chardonnay/Pinot Noir blend from the same plot). Virtually all cuvées are released at or very near zero dosage. David Léclapart is widely regarded as one of the pioneers and foremost references of biodynamic grower Champagne; critic Richard Juhlin placed L'Apôtre 2004 among the 100 greatest Champagnes of the century.

From the House