"One of the Most Elegant Editions
I Can Remember Tasting." -Galloni

Stunning Rare Champagne From Same Owners of First Growth Latour, Grand Cru Burgundy Clos de Tart, & Eisele (Araujo): Jacquesson Cuvee 748.

Dear Artisans,

Hardcore Champagne lovers request this from us all year long, and here's why.

Not surprisingly, in 2022, Artemis Domaines — the Pinault family holding that owns Chateau Latour (First Growth Bordeaux), Clos de Tart (Grand Cru Burgundy monopole), and Eisele Vineyard (formerly Araujo, the 100-point Napa cult legend) — quietly acquired Champagne Jacquesson. This is the same stewardship, the same standard of care, the same obsessive attention to terroir, now applied to one of Champagne's most idiosyncratic and revered small houses.

The Cuvee 700 series is Jacquesson's signature departure from typical NV blending. Rather than trying for a consistent house style, each release is its own snapshot of the year — the wine changes with every bottling, and the number goes up by one. The 748 has a 2020 base with 24% reserve wines, disgorged in 2024 with a nearly-bone-dry 2 g/L dosage. And it's landed as arguably the most beautiful entry in the modern series.

The 748 is a Chardonnay-based blend — 55% from Aÿ, Dizy, Hautvillers, and Champillon; 45% from Avize and Oiry (two of the Cote des Blancs' most storied villages). A 2020 base vintage with 24% reserve wines, disgorged October 2024 with just 2 g/L dosage. Fresh pear, citrus zest, lightly toasted brioche; a pillowy mousse; a long saline finish. The 20th anniversary release of the 700 series — and, as Vinous puts it, one of the most elegant and refined editions in the entire run.

Silky. Fluffy. Racy.
For Lovers of Taittinger Comtes / Pierre Peters / Ruinart.

If the 748 is already gone by the time you read this — or if you want to lay in more of the same drinking style at gentler prices — here are four of our house-favorite Champagnes cut from the same cloth. Every one hand-picked for that soft, creamy, high-energy profile that makes great Champagne so hard to stop drinking.

A family-owned grower producer whose bottles rarely leave France — even the importer waited years before being granted tiny allocations. The Eclat d'Or is 80% Pinot Meunier, 10% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay, built on a 2020 base (~70%) and given four full years sur lie before disgorgement in 2025. Modest 7 g/L dosage.

The Bergere family has tended vines since 1848; today's Adrien Bergere is quietly one of the most exciting young growers in Champagne. The Origine cuvee blends the three historic villages of the family story and reads as a modern classic: Chardonnay-dominant, lively, and refined.

The Moncuit siblings farm 15 hectares of some of the oldest Chardonnay vines in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger — the Cote des Blancs' most celebrated village. The Coulmet spends 24 months sur lie and drinks like an exceptional value introduction to Grand Cru Chardonnay Champagne. Four independent critics gave it 91 points — extraordinary consensus at this price.

The Philipponnat family has owned vines in Ay since 1522 — almost five hundred years of Champagne winemaking. The Reserve Perpetuelle uses a solera-style perpetual blend (started in 1946!), incorporating older reserves aged in wooden barrels for a Champagne of remarkable depth. Aged three years on the lees — well beyond the legal minimum.

Champagne is Only Getting More Expensive.
This Is the Sweet Spot.

The Jacquesson 748 at $89.99 — owned by the same family that stewards Chateau Latour and Eisele Vineyard — is the kind of insider bottle that shows up on wine director recommendation lists and disappears within a week. Only 36 bottles. The four supporting Champagnes are the same silky, creamy, precision-mousse style at gentler prices — all hand-picked by the Artisan team for that fluffy, high-energy profile that great Champagne is uniquely good at.

If you love the Comtes de Champagne / Pierre Peters / Ruinart register, you already know exactly what you're getting.

Cheers,

— James Tran