At A Glance
- Category
- Detail
- Region
- Champagne
- Village
- Tours-sur-Marne
- Setting
- Grand Cru village in the Côte des Noirs vineyard
- Main grapes
- Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
- Signature wines
- Terre d’étoiles, Les Meslaines, and Héliades
- Defining features
- Perpetual reserve wine, long bottle lees ageing, and hand dug chalk cellars
The Producer
The present family house was built in 1859 by Louis Hippolyte Lamiable. Champagne Lamiable is a family estate based in Tours-sur-Marne, a Grand Cru village in the Côte des Noirs vineyard.
The cuvées fall into three clear forms. Terre d’étoiles is the historic house blend. Les Meslaines is a vintage Blanc de Noirs from one plot of old vines. Héliades uses Chardonnay vinified in oak barrels. The range moves between blended house wine, named parcel, and cellar treatment.
Place
Tours-sur-Marne is a Grand Cru village in the Côte des Noirs vineyard. The holdings also extend to Grand Cru Bouzy and Premier Cru Billy-le-Grand. In Champagne, Grand Cru and Premier Cru describe village classifications, so these names mark the classified origin attached to the grapes and bottles.
Tours-sur-Marne remains the home village of the estate, while Bouzy and Billy-le-Grand widen the classified vineyard base beyond one commune.
Soil And Site
Most of Lamiable’s vines grow in Tours-sur-Marne, where the Champagne appellation covers 53 hectares. The first parcel was planted at Les Vignes des Meslaines. That named plot remains attached to a wine made from one plot and old vines, so the parcel appears directly in the cuvée rather than as a general estate reference.
Story
After the Second World War, Pierre Lamiable wanted to diversify and planted his first vines in Tours-sur-Marne during the 1950s. Jean Pierre then developed a passion for business and winemaking, producing and marketing bottled wine from the family activity.
The family work moved from planting vines to producing and marketing bottles. That change gave the estate a commercial wine operation alongside its vineyard holdings.
Vineyards And Cellar
The estate’s two vineyard holdings are certified Viticulture Durable en Champagne and High Environmental Value. These certifications describe environmental standards for the vineyard work.
The facilities include a press, vat room, cellar, and vaulted chalk cellars dug by hand. The cellar buildings provide the setting for bottle ageing, including the extended lees periods used for the named cuvées.
Wines
Terre d’étoiles is the historic house blend, composed of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. It contains 40% perpetual reserve wine and spends 20 to 30 months ageing on lees in bottle. Lees are spent yeast cells, and extended contact can add breadth and a softer texture to sparkling wine.
Les Meslaines is a vintage Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Noirs made entirely from Pinot Noir. It comes from one plot of old vines in Tours-sur-Marne and spends seven to eight years ageing on lees in bottle.
Héliades uses Chardonnay vinified in oak barrels and spends seven to eight years ageing on lees in bottle. Its place in the range comes from the combination of Chardonnay, barrel vinification, and prolonged bottle ageing.
In The Glass
Terre d’étoiles is fruity and sweet in profile, with small red fruits, plum, and quince. Les Meslaines moves from candied quince and pear into mango and litchi, followed by fresh almonds, hazelnuts, and jasmine, with roasted and toasted notes at the end.
Héliades brings melon and vine peach, followed by spice and white flowers, then roasted vanilla and caramel. The nonvintage Grand Cru Brut shows yellow fruit, citrus, and green plum, with a crisp palate carrying significant weight. It is ready to drink now.
A Bottle To Understand It
Open with Terre d’étoiles. It is the historic house blend and the broadest expression of Lamiable’s blended style before the range narrows to the single plot of Les Meslaines or the oak vinification of Héliades.
The bottle brings Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, perpetual reserve wine, and bottle lees ageing into one cuvée. It gives the house blend a clear place before the more narrowly defined parcel and barrel wines.
Anecdote
In 2003, Ophélie returned to her family origins after growing up far from her hometown. She came back to the Lamiable family venture in Tours-sur-Marne, where the estate remains based. Arnaud, her husband, supports her in the family venture today. Ophélie’s return added a new named generation to the house’s continuing family work.
Final Word
Champagne Lamiable is a Tours-sur-Marne family estate with Grand Cru holdings, a named old vine plot, and bottles that separate house blend, parcel, and oak vinified Chardonnay.
Sources
- www.champagne.fr/en/visit-champagne/directory-champagne-producers/champagne-lamiable
- www.champagnelamiable.com/en/the-house.html
- www.champagnelamiable.com/en/the-terroir.html
- www.parc-montagnedereims.fr/en/degustations/champagne-lamiable
- www.champagnelamiable.com/en/the-champagnes/les-identitaires/meslaines.html
- www.champagnelamiable.com/en/the-champagnes/les-identitaires/heliade.html
- champagnelamiable.com/en/home/29-extra-brut-en?tmpl=component
- www.wineenthusiast.com/buying-guide/lamiable-nv-grand-cru-brut-champagne-180929