“Sometimes, there are lines between the lines; you have to look for them” – Julien Launois
Meet the underground Champagne producer behind Modicum, the French Laundry’s newest Blanc de Blanc.
Julien’s story is unconventional for a Champagne grower.
What drew me most to Julien was that he’s not someone you can put into a box. Together with his wife Sarah, a visual artist, they have managed to become some of the most innovative and creative champagne producers in the Côtes des Blancs right now.
They see things differently. They take risks. They jumped into the mud head first and started swimming in 2015. Together they followed images they saw in their imaginations rather than that well-paved path everyone else does. And it shows in the Champagnes they produce. I gravitate towards others I see taking chances to pursue their curiosities.
This is my second time visiting their estate this summer. The first time, I left in awe and with a debt to Joshua Dunning in the UK, a fellow wine writer, and geek who sent me an Instagram message when he saw I was in Épernay: “Go see Champagne Paul Launois, it’s just up your alley. Seriously, no joke. You will love him.”
Joshua was right.
I took his advice and am so glad I did. Champagne Paul Launois has since become one of my favorite grower champagnes.
And I guess Thomas Keller felt the same.
I am here this time with my friend, Joe; a Paris film school kid turned tech entrepreneur from Detroit. I invited him along for the interview and tasting. Julien, Joe, and I tasted each champagne. Joe looked up, swallowed, and with a childlike expression said, “I think this is the best wine I’ve ever had.”
“You have the same taste as Thomas Keller”, Julien replied. We looked at each other. I asked Julien what he was referring to and casually said that their champagne had just become the house label at Keller’s world-famous restaurant, the French Laundry this year. Julien was humble and didn’t say much else. This was something I later looked up and traced. The San Francisco based importer, Scale Wines imports the champagne for Keller, and it’s sold under their label, Modicum.
Inside the winery, a large pocket door slides open, and standing in the center of the room like an altar before Vatican 2 is the 1930s grape press in all its heavenly glory. There is an eerie stillness. I imagine how different the energy might be like in this place during the harvest and pressing. The rest of the room is empty, and the ceiling is 15+ meters high. Just behind the press are busy line drawings that jump out at you and appear to be moving across the white wall. Upon closer look, you realize it’s a capture of energy. Using video projections of these moments, Sara spent three days painting the movement across the walls, artfully infusing both the work involved in making champagne and the emotions that accompany the process.
Julien grew up in the village of Mesnil-sur-Oger. His family has owned vineyards for four generations. Before you put your hand over your mouth and yawn because this story is starting to sound like every other one about a wine-producing family in France, stay with me. I promise it’s worth it.
He left champagne in his early twenties to explore the world. He worked on a cruise ship as a sommelier before landing in Mexico and starting his own cocktail bar. He was away for nine years, building a business and growing a more profound interest in food and wine. Yet the threads of his champagne identity began to weave a bigger picture in his mind. He was being pulled back to the vines. Julien returned to his childhood home of Mesnil-sur-Oger and began working with his father.
The Launois family was part of a cooperative then. Simply put, there are three groups in Champagne: 15000+ growers, 100 cooperatives, and 300 houses, who are responsible for the majority of the export. The majority of the growers are members of cooperatives. They are involved in handling and trading the champagne components, like grapes, must, base wines, or even finished wines.
Julien has a cult following but is still not well-known even in champagne. For fun, I brought the Monochrome to Reims so I could blind taste with a friend who heads a large house. He has been working in champagne for more than 25 years and sources grapes from all over the region. My friend had never heard of Julien. To his credit, he did guess the grand cru chardonnay village but missed the malo. I guess nobody’s perfect.
In 2013, an opportunity was presented to Sara and Julien. A large estate in the center of town was up for sale. The house had been owned by one of the larger champagne houses, who had been purchased the property in 2004 because it was part of a deal in a sale that evolved several grand cru plots. This large estate had sat vacant for years. Sara pressed Julien to consider it. They put in an offer. It was accepted. Then the two of them jumped in feet first and started swimming. They carried out the renovation themselves and finally made their first harvest in 2015.
Sarah Launois, an artist and graphic designer, is passionate about wine. She designed their new brand identity for their champagne after the name of their son: Paul Launois.
They vinify in stainless steel vats and barrels, experiment, assemble, taste, and from this same passion for champagne is born “Champagne Paul Launois.”
There is yet another chapter to this story and one I might appropriately title when a simple curiosity leads you to successful experimentation: The Single Barrel Project.
In 2016 Julien began to have his oak barrels manufactured by the “Tonnellerie artisanale de Champagne” with staves of 4 years of drying and heating different from light to intense.
Typically producers selected a single level of desired toast for their barrel. During an exchange, Julien asked if the cooper had ever tasted the same wine in each barrel before. The barrel makers reply, “NON”. A light bulb turned on in Julien’s mind. It might not come as a surprise, but Julien ordered six barrels with six different toasts and decided to experiment. Thus was born the Single Barrel Project.
He selected his best parcel of Mesnil-sur-Oger by filling his barrels. The musts remain in the barrel until the draw. All wines have their specificities—the plot, the same vintage, the same press, but developing in different toast levels.
His little experiment paid off one day. A was parked in the middle of the road one day in the village. Julien stopped to ask if they needed help. The man in the car was a wine buyer from the Netherlands. He told Julien that he was looking for new Blanc de Blancs producers. “Well, I make wine. Would you like to taste it?…” Upon giving him a property and cellar tour, Julien told him about the Single Barrel Project experiment. The buyer was intrigued, and after tasting through each of the barrels, he was hooked.
Thus was his first single barrel sale. Car problems turned the course of the business. Julien now sells a very limited number of barrels exclusive to this customer and a selected few from the US.
The Single Barrel Project consists of producing unique champagnes each year while creating a special relationship with wine lovers who participate in developing their vintage parcel of Mesnil-sur-Oger.
Champagne Paul Launois currently produces three cuvées in addition to the Single Barrel Project.
Champagne Paul Launois is a love story, the love of a man and a woman, the love of wine and art, the love of a son, and a love surrendering to the unconventional paths life lead you to.
MONOCHROME cuvée fully expresses the chalky and mineral terroir. The delicacy of the bubbles highlights the salinity of the wine and the slightly buttery aromas of Chardonnay.
100% Chardonnay- Grand Cru, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Base wine 2017: (stainless steel tank: 83%) Reserve wine: 17% with malolactic
Composition cuvée is characterized by the right balance between freshness and maturity and a subtle fruitiness. The crystalline and silky mouth reveals the delicacy of the terroir.
100% Chardonnay – Grand Cru Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Base wine 2017: (stainless steel tank: 40%, barrel: 12%) Reserve wine: 48% With malolactic
Cuvée Illustration is full of originality, woody, and mineral that distinguish it from the others. The chalky terroir associated with the oak barrel reveals all its aromatic potential: toasted and salty.
100% Chardonnay- Grand Cru Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Base wine 2017: (stainless steel tank: 10%, barrel: 75%) Reserve wine: 15% With malolactic
Full Video Interview produced for Napa Valley Wine Academy HERE
This story was featured on the Paris Wine Girl Podcast
