Champagne Delamotte is a small producer of
Champagne. Along with its "sister" winery
Champagne Salon
Champagne Salon is a small producer of Champagne made in the blanc de blancs style. Salon, along with Delamotte, is part of the Laurent-Perrier group since 1989.
History
Champagne Salon was founded by Eugène Aimé Salon in the early 20th cen ...
, Delamotte is the historical House of the
Laurent-Perrier
Laurent-Perrier () is a Champagne house founded in 1812. It is the main company of the Laurent-Perrier Group, whose other flagship brands include the houses of Salon, De Castellane and Delamotte. Laurent-Perrier Group also acquired Chateau M ...
group.
History
Delamotte is a
Champagne house more than 250 years old (it is the sixth oldest
Champagne house) founded in
Reims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
in 1760 by François Delamotte, a
vineyard owner.
He and other
Champagne producers were the creators of a tradition based on quality. Their modus operandi, far from being viewed as quaint, earned them a place in the
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
of
Physiocrats. Their practices have been used as a model by insistence on quality.
Alexandre Delamotte brought the cellars, caves and offices of the House of Delamotte to one beautiful
mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...
at the end of the
18th century
The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trad ...
. In 1828, his brother, Nicolas Louis Delamotte, assumed management of the House of Delamotte. Nicolas was well known for hosting spectacular events.
The House was sold to the Lanson family in the 1830s, which later started producing a Lanson label. It was eventually acquired by Marie-Louise de Nonancourt, née Lanson, in the period between the two World Wars. In 1927, Marie-Louise made the decision to transfer the activities of the house of Delamottte to Mesnil-sur-Oger. The management of the company was entrusted to the hands of Marie-Louise’s youngest son, Charles de Nonancourt.
In 1988, the House of Delamotte joined forces with the still enigmatic Champagne Salon under the umbrella of the parent company, Laurent-Perrier, led by Charles' brother, Bernard. Today, the House of Delamotte and its sister company Champagne Salon are under the direction of Didier Depond in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.
Vineyards and production
As the second label of Salon, Delamotte produces wines from grapes sourced from the same vineyards in the
Côte des Blancs
The Côte des Blancs is an area of Champagne vineyards. Located in the department of Marne, it lies south of Epernay, stretches for about 20 km, and had a vineyard area of in 2006. The ''Côte des Blancs'' is a mostly eastern-facing slo ...
region of
Champagne. While Salon exclusively produces
vintage Champagne in vintages deemed exceptional, Delamotte reserves wine from year to year to create blended wine in Non-Vintage styles.
Reputation
In his publication ''
The Wine Advocate'', critic
Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Robert McDowell Parker Jr. (born July 23, 1947) is a retired U.S. wine critic. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter ''The Wine Advocate'' are influential in American wine buying and are therefore a major factor in setting th ...
has called Delamotte "one of the best buys in exquisitely crafted Champagne."
Wine writer
Karen MacNeil refers to Delamotte's blanc de blancs as her "desert island" choice and includes the wine among her list of "Champagnes to Know."
See also
*
List of Champagne houses
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delamotte
Champagne producers