Domaine de Ladoucette Baron de L
A clear, luminous colour. The nose opens with hawthorn and gunflint, followed by honey, pear and elderflower, with a smoky touch. The palate is full-bodied and perfectly balanced: mango, peach and apricot meet a pronounced vivacity, leading to a long, saline finish. Serve chilled, at around 10-12°C.…
TOUS LES CHAMPAGNES DOMAINE DE LADOUCETTEThe expert verdict
The structure of this champagne
TASTING NOTES
A clear, luminous colour. The nose opens with hawthorn and gunflint, followed by honey, pear and elderflower, with a smoky touch. The palate is full-bodied and perfectly balanced: mango, peach and apricot meet a pronounced vivacity, leading to a long, saline finish. Serve chilled, at around 10-12°C. The house gives it eight to ten years of ageing potential.
The composition
Terroirs
Pouilly-Fumé appellation, one hundred percent sauvignon blanc. The grapes come from the estate's vines in Pouilly-sur-Loire, Saint-Andelain and Tracy-sur-Loire, on clay and limestone soils. At the press, the juices are separated; the wine then ferments for six to eight weeks in stainless steel tanks, at a controlled temperature of around 18°C, then rests for three to six months on its lees, stirred regularly. It never goes into oak barrels: nothing comes to mask the sauvignon. The cuvée is only produced in great years.
About this house
Since the late eighteenth century, the Comtes Lafond family has owned, at the Château du Nozet in Pouilly-sur-Loire, the largest and most renowned vineyard of Pouilly-Fumé. Baron Patrick de Ladoucette, who took over the vines in 1972, extended this history to Sancerre, with the Comte Lafond cuvées, and to Chablis, with the house of Régnard.
Baron de L is the Baron's signature wine. Created in 1975 as a private reserve, in a replica of a heavy eighteenth-century bottle, it is presented as the first private reserve of a white wine. The house considers it one of the greatest sauvignons in the world, of exceptional finesse and depth.
The perfect pairing
Aperitif
The saline finish of the Baron de L extends the oyster, and its vivacity underlines its freshness.
Starter
The wine's depth envelops the delicate flesh of the scallop, which the gunflint comes to enhance.
Main course
The wine's mango and apricot respond to the sweetness of the lobster, and its acidity lightens the sauce.
