Champagne Tassin house spotlight
Tassin Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne, France
Thibault Tassin's Essoyes Chardonnay, white flowers and citrus with 30 months on lees, grower Champagne you can open at twenty-nine dollars.
The Blanc de Blancs is 100 percent Chardonnay from Tassin's oldest vines on Kimmeridgian hillsides in Essoyes: white flowers, peach, citrus, nutty green apple, and a lemon close after more than 30 months on the lees, now $29.
Aube Chardonnay from a family that has farmed since 1793
Champagne Tassin has grown vines in Loches-sur-Ource since 1793 and has bottled as recoltant-manipulant since 1929. Thibault and Anne-Fleur run the house. This Blanc de Blancs is pure Chardonnay from Essoyes, less than five kilometers from the cellar, old vines on Kimmeridgian hillsides, the same chalk family as Chablis. More than 30 months on the lees. Fine bubbles, white flowers, peach, citrus. This is the bottle that argues Cote des Bar Chardonnay can be grower Champagne you actually open.
The house
Seven generations in Loches-sur-Ource. RM since 1929. Thibault blends. Anne-Fleur runs the domaine with him.
The wine
100% Chardonnay from Essoyes. Steel ferment, malolactic, more than 30 months on lees. Fine mousse, citrus and cream.
The site
Kimmeridgian hillsides in Essoyes. Thibault prunes in the conservative Chablis method so the fruit develops slowly.
The drinker
Serve 46 to 50 F. No decant. Fried chicken or chilled crab and oysters.
White flowers and peach, then sourdough and lemon
The Tassin sheet opens on white flowers, peaches, and citrus with fine bubbles. Importer notes add nutty green apple, yeasty sourdough bread, and lemon on the end. Intense yet soft, rich yet light. That is Aube Chardonnay, not a Grande Marque toast speech.
A multi-vintage Chardonnay cuvee. One recent blend was mostly 2019 with 2018 and 2017, aged more than 30 months on the lees before disgorgement.
White flowers, peach, citrus zest, nutty green apple, sourdough yeast.
Fine mousse, creamy mid, 100% Chardonnay, 30 months lees, grower dosage.
Lemon, saline, clean. Serve 46 to 50 F. No decant.
Steel, malolactic, then a long lees stay
Thibault vinifies in stainless steel through alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, then bottles to age about 30 months on the lees before late disgorgement. Base wines settle twice in vat in a deep, cold, hand-cut stone cellar. The point is mouthfeel and polarity: intense yet soft, rich yet light, without an oak costume.
Essoyes Chardonnay is a rarity in a Pinot Noir region. Thibault treats those vines with Chablis pruning so yield stays honest.
Serve 46 to 50 F in a white-wine glass if you want peach and citrus to open. Fried chicken or oysters are the table language.
Seven generations on the Ource
The Tassins took up viticulture in Loches-sur-Ource in 1793 and have bottled their own Champagne as grower-producers since 1929.
Fourteen hectares are farmed. About six hectares of the best ground go into the estate cuvees, roughly 60,000 bottles a year.
Thibault trained in Champagne and Burgundy. Anne-Fleur works the domaine beside him. The vaulted cellars keep a slow, even prise de mousse.
The Blanc de Blancs is the Chardonnay argument from a Pinot Noir village: Essoyes fruit, long lees, grower Champagne priced for the table.
Crunch, brine, then citrus and cream
Blanc de Blancs has the mousse to reset fried crust and the minerality to meet oysters. Citrus and peach handle salt without turning sweet.
Two plates. One crispy fried chicken. One chilled crab and oyster platter. Both can take Cote des Bar Blanc de Blancs.
Serve 46 to 50 F. No decant. A white-wine glass lets peach and citrus widen.
Crispy buttermilk fried chicken
The fine mousse resets the palate after each crunchy bite, while citrus handles the salt.
Why it works: Acidity and minerality cut the crust. Chardonnay cream meets the seasoning without extra sweetness.
View Recipe for crispy buttermilk fried chicken (opens in a new tab)
Chilled crab and oysters with mignonette
Sweet crab and briny oysters meet peach, salinity, and a lemon finish.
Why it works: Lemon and shallot mirror the wine's citrus and mineral edge.
View Recipe for chilled crab and oysters with mignonette (opens in a new tab)Put this grower Blanc de Blancs in the cart
Thibault Tassin's Essoyes Chardonnay. Thirty months on lees. Twenty-nine dollars against a $75 typical retail.
Put it in the cart. This is Cote des Bar grower Champagne priced for a table that actually opens the bottle.
