At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Champagne, France
- Base
- Mardeuil
- Producer type
- Grower house
- Sparkling range
- Brut Réserve, 100% Meunier, Brut Nature, Cuvée du Bicentenaire Brut
- Other wine
- Ratafia Champenois
- Family continuity
- Fifth generation family operation
The Producer
Fruit is at the centre of Champagne Emile Leclère's work. The grower house makes Champagne under its own label and supplies fruit to more than 70 Champagne houses. Vincent and Marie run the family operation from Mardeuil, keeping estate production and fruit supply within the same business.
The house works with the three Champagne grape varieties planted across its vineyard estate: Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Its own range includes sparkling cuvées and Ratafia Champenois, a liqueur with a separate place in the cellar and at the table.
Place
Champagne Emile Leclère is based at 15 Rue Victor Hugo, 51530 Mardeuil, France. Mardeuil is the fixed home of the grower house, its vineyard estate and the wines made under the Emile Leclère name.
The address also belongs to a business that sends fruit beyond its own bottles. More than 70 Champagne houses receive fruit from the operation, while Mardeuil remains the place attached to the house's own label.
Story
Champagne Emile Leclère was founded in 1832. Vincent and Marie now run the fifth generation, with the family business continuing along two routes: Champagne under its own name and fruit supplied to more than 70 Champagne houses.
The current generation therefore works inside an operation that serves both its own bottles and other houses' production. The family continuity is measured in generations, while the business reaches well beyond a single label.
Vineyards And Cellar
The estate operates 13 hectares of vines. Pinot Meunier accounts for 70%, Chardonnay for 24% and Pinot Noir for 6%.
Pinot Meunier is the dominant planting, with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir completing the vineyard composition. In sparkling wine, these grape varieties contribute different raw materials to the base wines before the finished cuvées are assembled and bottled.
Wines
The sparkling range includes Brut Réserve, 100% Meunier, Brut Nature and Cuvée du Bicentenaire Brut. Brut Réserve is a non vintage cuvée. In Champagne, non vintage wine can combine wines from more than one harvest, allowing a house to maintain a consistent style across releases.
100% Meunier names its grape directly on the bottle. Brut Nature is the zero dosage cuvée, a style finished without added sugar at dosage. The range therefore includes both a single grape expression and a drier sparkling format alongside Brut Réserve and Cuvée du Bicentenaire Brut.
Ratafia Champenois sits outside the sparkling group. It is a liqueur combining candied fruit aromas with hints of vanilla, giving the range a sweet, rounded style alongside its dry Champagne cuvées.
In The Glass
Brut Réserve brings ripe red apple, lemon, meringue and light toast. A doughy core fills the middle of the palate, while the finish is snappy and chalky.
Brut Nature places baked red apple, anise and perfumed florals beside the lemony drive of Chardonnay. The finish is stony, with the fruit and floral notes carried by a dry sparkling frame.
Ratafia Champenois changes register completely. Candied fruit and vanilla lead into a smooth, mellow palate with sweet yet balanced flavour and a creamy, rounded texture.
A Bottle To Understand It
Choose 100% Meunier. The cuvée puts a single grape variety in the name, making the bottle's central material immediately clear. It is described as both fresh and indulgent, with vibrant ripe fruit.
The bottle keeps Pinot Meunier in focus without asking the blend to explain the grape. Brut Réserve, Brut Nature and Ratafia Champenois then show how the house works with broader sparkling and liqueur styles.
Final Word
Champagne Emile Leclère combines a fifth generation family operation in Mardeuil with a 13 hectare vineyard estate, own label Champagne and fruit supplied to more than 70 other houses. Pinot Meunier leads the plantings and receives its clearest single grape expression in the 100% Meunier cuvée.
Sources
1. https://www.champagne-leclere.com/en/home/ 2. https://www.champagne.fr/en/visit-champagne/directory-champagne-producers/champagne-emile-leclere 3. https://www.lesommelier.com/all-producers/champagne-emile-leclere 4. https://fr.gaultmillau.com/en/wineries/emile-leclere 5. https://gismondionwine.com/tasting-notes/202210/champagne-emile-leclerc-brut-reserve-nv/?note=38199 6. https://www.champagne-leclere.com/en/our-champagnes/100-meunier/ 7. https://gismondionwine.com/tasting-notes/202210/champagne-emile-leclere-brut-nature-nv/?note=38198 8. https://www.champagne-leclere.com/en/our-champagnes/ratafia/