Happy Hour Champagne Tasting Featuring Leclerc Briant with Special Guest Cassidy Stiebing Thursday, May 8, 2025 - 6:00 PM
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.”
Mark Twain
Those of you that have been getting my propaganda know that Champagne is my favorite wine therefore I can't go too long without a Champagne tasting. So when I learned that our friend Cassidy Stiebing from Champagne Leclerc Briant would be in town later this month I figured it would be a nice theme for a Happy Hour wine tasting.
Leclerc Briant is a trailblazing Champagne house producing wines of singular energy and nerve. Lucien Leclerc founded the winery with four hectares of vineyards in Cumières in 1872. The business moved to Épernay in 1955 when Bertrand Leclerc married Jacqueline Briant and formed the négociant firm which still carries their name. Leclerc Briant was an early adopter of organic practices beginning in the 1960’s and was one of the first to bottle single-vineyard Champagnes starting in the 1970’s. In the late 1980’s, Bertrand and Jacqueline’s son, Pascal, began integrating biodynamic principles and part of the production has been Demeter certified since 2003. Today, enologist Hervé Jestin continues the legacy of this visionary house.
Join us as we welcome Cassidy Stiebing to South Florida for a Happy Hour Champagne Tasting on Thursday, May 8th at 6pm. The fee for this tasting is $125 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
Happy Hour Champagne Tasting Featuring Leclerc Briant
with Special Guest Cassidy Stiebing
Thursday, May 8, 2025
6:00 PM
NV Champagne Leclerc Briant Reserve Brut
2019 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Extra Brut Millésime
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant Villers Allerand 1er Cru Extra Brut Millesime Clochers
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Millésime
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Hautvillers 1er Cru Brut Les Basses Prières Millésime
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Vertus 1er Cru Extra Brut Les Monts Ferrés
2012 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Grand Cru Brut Zéro Blanc de Blancs Château d'Avize
NV Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Extra Brut Rosé
Menu
Truffle Parmesan Fries
Salmon Sliders with Cucumber, Beefsteak Tomato and Dill Crème Fraiche
Salmon Roe Purses with Champagne Beurre Blanc
Pork Belly Bites with Orange Marmalade Dipping Sauce
Bang Bang Chicken
Strawberry Shortcake Bites
The fee for this tasting is $125 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
A bit more about Leclerc Briant:
La Croisette is the home vineyard of Leclerc Briant, a 0.6 -hectare plot adjacent to the winery in Épernay, planted in 1966 to Chardonnay. Remarkably, this vineyard has never been treated with herbicides or pesticides. The remaining 9.6 hectares of vineyard are spread between the Premier Cru villages of Cumières, Hautvillers, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Bisseuil in the Vallée de la Marne, Villers-Allerand and Rilly la Montagne in Montagne de Reims and in the Grand Cru villages of Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Côte des Blancs. A small amount of Pinot Noir is sourced from the Aube. Leclerc Briant also holds long term contracts with another 8 hectares of biodynamically farmed vineyards.
Oenologist Hervé Jestin has overseen production since 2008, taking a distinctly non-interventionist position: “Our vines and our wines have a certain sort of independence,” says Hervé. “We provide guidance and care, but don’t want to force anything.” Hervé is a respected expert in biodynamic farming and is a forefather of bioenergetics, a movement among a small group of vignerons who are working to bring the energy of nature to the finished wine. All fermentation is spontaneous, and the wines are vinified in a combination of INOX tank, terracotta egg or French oak barrel. Malolactic fermentation is allowed to happen naturally and dosage levels are kept low (below 4g/L). All the wines are bottled 100% unfiltered and unfined, using only time and gravity for clarification. The end goal is gastronomic Champagne, wines intended for the table, that brim with energy and speak clearly of their terroir.
All the Leclerc Briant Champagne in the store on SALE!!
NV Champagne Leclerc Briant Reserve Brut
Price: $69.00 Your Price: $60.72
“Focused on red grapes (pinots noir and meunier, 40 percent each), this gives an impression sweet, blue-black grape skins in its soft red fruit, while golden, oxidative tones bring scents of butterscotch and white tea to the finish. For rich shellflish, like oysters Rockefeller.” — Wine & Spirits, Dec 2023
2019 Champagne Leclerc Briant Extra Brut Millésime
Price: $109.00 Your Price: $95.92
“A lively Champagne, showing a crisp frame and a lacy mousse, with bright acidity buoying notes of raspberry, white cherry, salted almond and elderflower. Lightly chalky on the finish. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.” — Wine Spectator, Feb 2024
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant Villers Allerand 1er Cru Extra Brut Millesime Clochers
Price: $215.00 Your Price: $189.20
Leclerc Briant was an early adopter of organic practices beginning in the 1960’s and pioneered the concept of single-vineyard Champagne starting in the 1970’s. Fifth generation vigneron, Pascal Leclerc began to follow biodynamic principles in 1988, with part of the production Demeter certified since 2003. Today, enologist Hervé Jestin continues the legacy of this visionary house.
Ten hectares are divided between the Premier Cru villages of Cumières, Hautvillers, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Bisseuil in the Vallée de la Marne, Villers-Allerand and Rilly la Montagne in Montagne de Reims and the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil Sur Oger in the Côte des Blancs. Leclerc Briant also holds long-term contracts with another 8 hectares of biodynamically farmed vineyards.
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Millésime
Price: $145.00 Your Price: $127.60
(94 Points) The 2018 Les Monts Ferrés Blanc de Blancs derives from vines planted in the eponymous parcel in the 1er cru village of Vertus. It reveals a delicate, fine bouquet with aromas of fresh bread, acacia, spring flowers and ripe orchard fruits. Medium-bodied and perfectly balanced, it’s enveloping and structured with both racy and bright acidity. This is a tension-filled, ethereal Champagne with a dosage of 1.4 grams per liter. Wine Advocate
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Hautvillers 1er Cru Brut Les Basses Prières Millésime
Price: $215.00 Your Price: $189.20
Assemblage :80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay plot in Hautvillers premier cru vinified and aged in oak for 9 monthsHarvest :2018Bottling :July 30, 2019Dosage :1,5 grams per literDisgorgement :from October 2024
Les Basses Prières Vintage 2018 reveals both the freshness and the intensity of this outstanding terroir. It is particularly well suited to the variations of flavour and texture in ‘surf and turf’ dishes.
2018 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Vertus 1er Cru Extra Brut Les Monts Ferrés
Price: $215.00 Your Price: $189.20
(94 Points) The 2018 Les Monts Ferrés Blanc de Blancs derives from vines planted in the eponymous parcel in the 1er cru village of Vertus. It reveals a delicate, fine bouquet with aromas of fresh bread, acacia, spring flowers and ripe orchard fruits. Medium-bodied and perfectly balanced, it’s enveloping and structured with both racy and bright acidity. This is a tension-filled, ethereal Champagne with a dosage of 1.4 grams per liter. Wine Advocate
2012 Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Grand Cru Brut Zéro Blanc de Blancs Château d'Avize
Price: $278.00 Your Price: $244.64
(96 Points) Smells fresh with lemon and soft floral scents. Delicate and refined, this is crips, sharp and piercing yet also layered and rich. Bitter lemon rind mixes with honeyed orange and some pie crust savoury elements to give real character. A little bit woody still, just peeking out, in contrast to the fruit, still showing its youthfulness. After a few minutes all the flavours seem much brighter in the glass, more evocative and expressive. Thrillingly precise, dry and crisp. Dosage 2g/L. Made from 100% grand cru grapes. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter
NV Champagne Leclerc Briant, Champagne Extra Brut Rosé
Price: $85.00 Your Price: $74.80
A bright pink hue, the NV Champagne Extra Brut Rosé is Extra Brut with 3.4 grams per liter dosage and was disgorged in June 2024. A bright pink, it’s fresh and fruity on the nose, with delicate aromas of pure strawberries, fresh flowers, and seashells that are pretty all the way through. Medium-framed and dry, it’s crispy and fresh on the palate, with a clean feel throughout. Lovely to drink it now or over the coming 10 years, this very refreshing and clean style delivers a lot of brightness and pleasure. — Jeb Dunnuck, Dec 2024