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Dosnon & Lepage
www.champagne-dosnon.com
Simon-Charles Lepage & Davy Dosnon
Simon-Charles Lepage & Davy Dosnon
Country of Origin: France
Location: Avirey-Lingey, Aube Valley
People: Davy Dosnon & Nicolas Laugerotte, Owners & Winemakers
Supplier: http://www.jondavidwine.com


Dosnon & Lepage is the partnership of two men, Simon-Charles Lepage and Davy Dosnon, who have combined their skills for the sake of a single mission: the production of Grands Vins de Champagne. (Simon Lepage has since split and Nicolas Laugerotte is the new partner.) Natives of Avirey-Lingey in the Côte des Bar (Aube Valley), they wanted to create modern and ecologically sustainable Maison de Champagne, endeavoring to achieve excellence and to honor and celebrate the diversity and quality of the terroirs.

Found in the southern part of the Champagne region, the vineyards are situated on rolling hills of Kimmeridgian soil like in Chablis and parts of Sancerre. This terroir, dominated by clayey-limestone soils, inspires particularly rich aromas and flavors in the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which acquire an exceptional finesse and fruitiness as they age. Dosnon & Lepage cultivates a two-hectare vineyard located in Avirey-Lingey and currently receives grapes from approximately five hectares of other vintners. No chemicals are ever used.

The grapes are always harvested by hand. They use vertical pressers, and during the extraction process, their design reduces the movement of the grapes to a minimum, releasing the finest, least-stained and perfectly lucid juices. Vinification takes place for the most part in contact with wood, followed by an optimum aging process with the goal in mind of developing complex and full champagnes while preserving their finesse and their purity with a low dosage. However, according to the variety of the grapes and the years, the weaker or less-structured wines must ferment in tanks to awaken their freshness, their acidity, and their fruit.

Traditionally, the three varieties of grapes of the Champagne region, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, rising from different crus and terroir, are brought together to create a 'brut sans annee'. However, at Dosnon & Lepage they wanted to take a differnet direction, one which diverges from this assemblage type. Always careful to respect the search for the purest expression of the terroir, they blend reserve wines at 100% of each of the two noble varieties, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, to create unique 'Cuvées mono cépages' that epitomize la Côte des Bar.

The fundamental philosophy of Dosnon & Lepage is one of harmony: harmony of mankind, of terroirs, and of wine in their environment. Since 2002, 1% For The Planet has inspired members of the business community to contribute 1% of sales to 1679 environmental groups around the world. In return, this growing alliance of companies is given the opportunity not only to see their self-worth rise, but their net worth climb as well. Dosnon & Lepage is a member of 1% For The Planet since December 2007 and has chosen Patagonia as their environmental group.

The Wine Advocate 11/2013
"Davy Dosnon and Simon-Charles Lepage – no doubt influenced by the former’s studies and labors in Burgundy – raise all of their base wines in used barrels from an address in Puligny-Montrachet, generally relying on spontaneous fermentation, and never fining or filtering. It’s also Dosnon who brought inherited acreage to the table, which conditioned the pair’s locating their cellar in the southern Côtes des Bar, whence they purchase additional grapes."

Media Links
The New York Times Dining & Wine: Champagne's Servants Join the Masters
SFGate: Champagne's Aube gets a moment to sparkle
ChampagneGuide.net: Dosnon & Lepage
Scalawine: Champagne Dosnon & Lepage

Social Media
Dosnon & Lepage Facebook
Items
Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Noire (Blanc de Noirs), Champagne AOC Net Price Reviews —
Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Blanche (Blanc de Blancs), Champagne AOC Net Price Reviews —
Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Rose, Champagne AOC Net Price Reviews —
Reviews
Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Blanche (Blanc de Blancs), Champagne AOC
Rating: 91

Floral and aromatic, with graphite, cherry pit and lily notes accenting a juicy flavor profile of creamed apple, white cherry, spun honey, hazelnut and biscuit. Appealing, showing lovely balance. Disgorged January 2013. Drink now through 2018. 168 cases imported.

- The Wine Spectator (12/15/2013)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Blanche (Blanc de Blancs), Champagne AOC
Rating: 91

Pineapple and apple, almond and lemon cream, overtones of yeast and sweetly perfumed garlands of flowers combine for an aromatically head-turning, lusciously silken-textured and lees-inflected performance from Dosnon and Lepage’s NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Récolte Blanche Disg. 1/2013. The combination of textural richness with levity, energy and refreshment is striking, and an impression of apple and pineapple close to the core lends further tangy and invigorating counterpoint. This ought to be worth following for several years.

- The Wine Advocate (11/30/2013)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Blanche (Blanc de Blancs), Champagne AOC
Rating: 92

Pale yellow. Highly fragrant bouquet displays Meyer lemon, lime, jasmine, vanilla and a note of chalky minerals. Light-bodied, sharply focused citrus fruit and mineral flavors show nervy cut and lift, with a sweeter note of poached pear gaining strength in the glass. This dry, nervy, grown-up Champagne finishes with excellent clarity and stony persistence.

- International Wine Cellar (12/15/2012)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Blanche (Blanc de Blancs), Champagne AOC
Rating: 91

Vivid gold. Pungent scents of poached pear and honeycomb, with complicating notes of jasmine and smoky minerals. Deeply pitched orchard fruit and citrus rind flavors possess good heft and pick up a spicy quality with air. The most serious of this set of Champagnes, with very good finishing thrust and a late note of salty minerality. Give this some air

- International Wine Cellar (12/1/2010)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Noire (Blanc de Noirs), Champagne AOC
Rating: 92

An expressive version, with ground anise, ginger, cardamom and clove notes winding through the bright boysenberry, black currant and white cherry fruit. Well-balanced and creamy in texture, with lemon peel, biscuit and floral accents on the fresh finish. Disgorged January 2013. Drink now through 2018. 250 cases imported.

- The Wine Spectator (12/15/2013)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Noire (Blanc de Noirs), Champagne AOC
Rating: 91

Yellow tomato, yellow plum and lemon – all with seed, pit and pip piquancy – inform the firm, bright palate of Dosnon & Lepage’s NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Récolte Noire Disg. 1/2013. The textural influence of lees is less evident here than in the other wines I tasted most recently from these two vignerons. But this upbeat, energetic, and mouth-coating pure Pinot mingles sourdough yeastiness with salinity for a cheek-pinching and salivary gland-milking finish. I suspect it may merit 4-6 years of repeated attention.

- The Wine Advocate (11/30/2013)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Noire (Blanc de Noirs), Champagne AOC
Rating: 92

Pale, bright straw color. High-pitched tangerine and melon aromas, with floral, vanilla and ginger nuances that expand with air. Stony and energetic but fleshy, offering potent orchard fruit and lemon curd flavors that show impressive depth. The broad, smoky, persistent finish leaves spice and vanilla notes in its wake.

- International Wine Cellar (12/15/2012)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Noire (Blanc de Noirs), Champagne AOC
Rating: 91

This fresh, fragrant version offers layered flavors of peach gelée, damson plum preserves, smoke, fresh flowers and citrus zest, with accents of ground ginger, cinnamon and anise spice. Finely textured, with a juicy finish. Drink now through 2017.

- The Wine Spectator (6/15/2012)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Rose, Champagne AOC
Rating: 90

The creamy mousse and tangy acidity supports flavors of spiced plum, macerated cherry, McIntosh apple, pastry dough, blanched almond and pickled ginger in this lively, aperitif-style rosé, with a lean, juicy finish. Disgorged January 2013. Drink now. 112 cases imported.

- The Wine Spectator (12/15/2013)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Rose, Champagne AOC
Rating: 89

The Dosnon & Lepage NV Brut Rosé Récolte Rosé Disg. 1/2013 displays a lovely, pale peach-blush color. Faintly bitter tang of tomato and semi-ripe raspberry acquires a prosciutto-like saline, smoky, animal savor that combines with berry seed-crunching piquancy for an invigorating finish, if not one with the persistence exhibited by the three other Dosnon & Lepage wines I tasted.

- The Wine Advocate (11/30/2013)

Dosnon & Lepage NV Recolte Rose, Champagne AOC
Rating: 93

Light, bright orange. Redcurrant, orange zest, jasmine and a hint of dusty minerals on the seductively perfumed nose. Juicy, vibrant and taut, offering powerful, spice- and mineral-accented flavors of red berries and candied orange peel. Silky and expansive on a finish resounding with orange and mineral notes.

- International Wine Cellar (12/15/2012)