Welcome to the Jacquesson 700 series: the best NV Champagne you likely aren't drinking yet

Jacquesson is a long-storied house in Champagne. They have been around since the 1790s and were the house where Johann-Joseph Krug got his start! Historically, they have been one of the more respected houses due to their longevity and clear quality while being one of the smaller major houses with approximately 280,000-350,000 bottles produced each year. Yet, they seem to slightly fly under the radar.

This is a house that has had its ups and down. While they have a long, storied history as the oldest Independent Champagne house that doesn’t mean that they were always one of the top producers. The early and mid-1800s was when Jacquesson was at its Zenith. Supposedly their Champagne was a favorite of Napoleon while they went out and acquired other houses to increase their holdings. By 1869, their sales had grown to over 1m bottles! Their importance was so great that then owner Adolphe Jacquesson was the inventor of the muselet that we use today when opening a bottle of Champagne.

Sadly, it would take over 100 years to bring back that level of success. They fell into hard times after the death of Adolphe Jacquesson in 1876 as the house was sold off to the highest bidder. They would then limp along for the rest of the 19th century and better part of the 20th century as they went through multiple ownership changes before they were purchased by Jean Chiquet in 1974.

It would be Jean Chiquet’s sons Jean-Herve and Laurent that would truly bring this house back to the level it deserves. The two of them would place a focus on creating a better vineyard with Organic farming and being herbicide free while fermenting the wines in giant, large oak to bring about a unique texture and style that lets you know you’re drinking something unique when you’re drinking a bottle of Jacquesson.

While the brothers movement in the vineyard and changes in the cellar were highly notable, their biggest move would come in 1999 when they flipped the whole concept of a Non-Vintage champagne on its head! The world then (and now) was dominated by the NV blend that creates a general house style for almost every Champagne producer. Instead, the brothers wanted to express their house style while making the best possible blend every single year, but with its own vintage character. Thus, the 700 series was born!

Starting in 2000, they released the 728 blend. They had painstakingly gone through all sorts of notes over their existence and figured out how many specific blends had been made. But this time, each subsequent blend would be 1/3 reserve wine and 2/3rds of the new vintage. The final cuvee would change every year, but there will always be portions of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier though the percentages will differ. They source their fruit from top sites in the Grand Cru villages of Ay, Avize, and Oiry as well as the Premier-Cru villages of Dizy, Hautvillers, Mareuil-Sur-Ay. This allows them to use the grapes that meet their strict demands and focus on the expression of the house.

Today, the 700 series is going immensely strong! The current release is the 747 and they also have a program of holding back wines on their lees for later disgorgement from the 700 series called the Tardifs. These wines are some of the most expressive Champagnes you can come across and are well worth having in your glass!! If you haven’t tried a bottle of Jacquesson, then be sure to search it out and let me know what you think!

Here are some selected tasting notes over the years for these killer Champagnes:

NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 746 Extra Brut - France, Champagne

This was drunk good old gangster style in front of the Santiago Cathedral. So, in many ways, the score doesn't matter to me. But, of course I like to review and love this wine so here we go: The nose is flowing with red apples, spiced pears, meyer lemons, brioche, toast, nectarines, warm dough, yellow flowers, vanilla extract, quince, and nougat. The Medium bodied feel is rich, yet balanced with tart, high acidity that has a nice bit of cut and mouthwatering qualities. This is a real banger and it was the perfect way to end my Caminha Costa! Yes, there's a 93 score to give a numerical data point, but in many ways, it doesn't matter as I wanted something to properly end my Camino and a Champagne that fit me! Buen Camino Peregrino!!!! (93 pts.)

NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 745 Extra Brut - France, Champagne

Right away, this is deep and complex as it fills up the glass with tones of toast, brioche, meyer lemons, pears, red apples, quince, yellow flowers, biscuits, some oak, leather, honeydew, custard, and vanilla beans. It really takes a bit to take everything in as there is so much going on. The Medium/full bodied feel is expansive with a slightly restrained power behind it along with tart, high acidity. Simply put, this is a killer Jacquesson. This may well be the best young Jacquesson that I can think of since the 736. This is a real special wine that is amazing right now, but absolutely feels like there is room for more growth down the road. (94 pts.)

NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 740 Extra-Brut- France, Champagne

The nose is a little more coiled up and it feels like it's holding back compared to previous bottles. Even so, it is well balanced with tones of red apples, citrus notes, pears, peaches, toast, nuts, warm dough, and biscuits. The Medium bodied feel shows off the balance of the nose, though it slightly lacks some depth and definition while possessing crisp, high acidity. I think this may be in a valley spot right now. It isn't as expressive as it has been and given the underlying material, this should be a lot better. I can imagine that this will get better with another 3+ years of aging on it and it will turn back on to how it was in its youth. (91 pts.)

NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 740 Dégorgement Tardif- France, Champagne

The nose show’s distinct autolytics of brioche, warm bread, meringue, bakery notes, and some baking vanilla. Behind the autolytics are lovely and rounded citrus notes of meyer lemons, kumquat, pears, red apples, quince, yellow flowers, elderflowers, lilacs, and some toasty notes. The medium bodied feel is balanced and deft with tart, high acidity. This is a killer DT and a clear step up from the normal 740. This brings a heavier style of autolytics while still showing off plenty of yellow and tree fruits. (93 pts.)

NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 736 Dégorgement Tardif- France, Champagne

This took a short bit to rev up, when it did it exploded out of the glass with deep and layered tones of red apples, bosc pears, hazelnuts, mint, honeysuckle, meyer lemons, yellow flowers, toast, brioche, biscuits, and warm dough. There is so much depth, poise, and layering with a style that draws you into the glass. The Medium bodied feel is beautifully textured and deep with tart, high acidity that is seamlessly integrated and provides a great spine. The Tardifs are a real step up from the "regular" 700 series. These see extended lees aging and this really took to it as the 08 vintage really shone through with depth and balance. (95 pts.)