2015-C Lambert de Seyssel 'Royal Seyssel' Grand Cru Régional, Seyssel AOP, Savoie, France (750ml)   

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_{A Quarterly Sparkling Wine Club Selection}
Rich golden hue with a fine bead. Complex aromatics of wildflowers, apple and honeycomb. The palate is fresh and lively, with green apple, kiwi fruit, rosehips and quince paste. The mouthfeel is expansive, with mouthwatering acidity and a subtle wet stone note on the finish.

Seyssel may be relatively unknown today, but the vineyards of this small appellation are regularly mentioned in documents dating back to the 11th century. With the development of sparkling wine production techniques in the 19th century, Seyssel mousseux was created and gained great popularity. The “Royal Seyssel” label, originally called “Royal Carte Bleue”, was launched in 1901 by the Varichon and Clerc families. For many years, it was considered to be the best sparkling Seyssel on the market. But when the operation was purchased in the 1990’s by a large Burgundian négociant, the quality suffered badly, and in 2007 the owners finally closed the winery, only keeping the rights to the name ‘Varichon et Clerc’. Saddened to see what their great local wine had come to, Gérard and Catherine Lambert teamed up with Olivier Varichon (the great-grandson of the founder), to buy back the Royal Seyssel label and re-create the local sparkling wine that was once so renowned.

The sparkling wines of Seyssel employ the same production techniques used in Champagne. The 2015 Royal Seyssel is a 50/50 blend of biodynamically farmed Altesse and Molette. Each varietal was vinified separately. Sorting was done in the vineyards, the grapes were hand-harvested and immediately transferred to a gentle pneumatic press. The must underwent a cold settling (debourbage) before being racked into temperature-controlled, stainless-steel tanks for alcoholic fermentation. After an élevage on the fine lees for 10 months, the blend was assembled with a dosage of 3 g/L. The bottles were stacked sur lattes for four years before being released to the market.