NV Jacquesson - Champagne Extra Brut Cuvee 748 (750ml)

Jacquesson, founded in 1798 in Dizy, is considered Champagne's oldest independent house. Napoleon I is said to have favored the wine, and Adolphe Jacquesson later invented the wire muzzle still used to secure champagne corks. After a period of decline, Jean Chiquet acquired the estate in 1974, and his sons Jean-Hervé and Laurent Chiquet have run it since 1988, building a reputation as one of Champagne's most closely watched houses.

Cuvée 748 belongs to Jacquesson's numbered series, which tracks every cuvée the house has produced since its founding rather than resetting with each new release. This bottling is built mainly around the 2020 harvest, blending roughly 55 percent Pinot Noir and Meunier from Aÿ, Dizy, Hautvillers, and Champillon with 45 percent Chardonnay from the Grand Cru villages of Avize and Oiry. Base wines ferment and age in large oak vats on the lees, and the finished wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered as an Extra Brut with minimal dosage.

The nose opens with chamomile and white flowers, moving into dried pear, apple, and a touch of spice. On the palate the wine is taut and mineral, with fine bubbles and a long, chalky finish that reflects Jacquesson's precise, low-dosage style.