Lilbert - Cramant Grand Cru

Bertrand Lilbert has now taken over the wine making from father Georges. The family vineyards lie in Chouilly, Oiry and Cramant. Yields are very low and all Champagnes are kept for 5 years before sale. The wines are made in a classic structured style with abundant acid to guarantee long aging potential. But that said, they are certainly very enjoyable in their youth. The Lilbert property was established in 1746 and consists of only 4 ha Grand Cru Vineyards in the Cote des Blancs, 60% in Cramant, 30% in Chouilly and 10% in Oiry. Bertrand took over the running of the property three years ago, prior to which he worked in an Epernay viticulture testing laboratory. The wines show real structure and tightness. These are impressive indeed and are at the pinnacle of quality.

Michel Bettane, France’s top wine critic, names Lilbert as the reference point for long-lived classic Cramant. As Andrew Jefford observes in his book, The New France, “This tiny 4-ha Cramant domaine is the source of some very fine and long-lived Blanc de Blancs made by Georges Lilbert and his son Bertrand. The style is less soft, creamy, and flowery than the Blanc de Blancs of most large houses might leave the drinker expecting: Cramant here has a taut, steely, rigorous quality….”. Andrew Jefford only awards 4 Champagne producers with a ‘one star’ rating, with Lilbert and Moncuit being two of them. Overall production is tiny with only three cuvées being produced for a huge total production of a tiny 30,000 bottles. So you can see that it is becoming difficult to find their wines. As usual the Belgians and Germans are great customers – and of course the Parisians!

The Lilbert family are traditional vignerons in the true sense of the word. All processes are performed by the family themselves. Hand riddling of course, and the final disgorgement is done manually without the use of ice to freeze the dead yeast cell plug in the neck of the bottle – ‘a la volée’.  Bertrand does sell some finished wine to a big house for their Prestige Cuvée.