Our Champagne House
François Lecompte is a wine-grower producer in the estate founded by his family in 1876 at Rilly-la-Montagne.
He offers prestigious, natural and fruity cuvées, reflecting the spirit and authenticity of his house, and the passion for his job as a wine-grower.
His PREMIER CRU Champagne is a blended wine, composed of the three traditional Champagne grape varieties: Chardonnay (white grapes), Pinot Noir et Pinot Meunier (black grapes), only harvested on his estate at Rilly-la-Montagne.
François Lecompte Champagne is pressed, wine-processed, bottled and aged on the estate.
THE TERROIR SPIRIT
Our house displays well-structured and elegant champagnes.
François Lecompte BRUT Champagne has its own « character » :
It is always a Vintage wine, thus enhancing the quality of a specific harvest, and the typical taste of Rilly-la-Montagne wines.
As time goes, François Lecompte creates a unique but nevertheless constant champagne, reflecting his vision, his know-how and the qualities of his Premier CRU vineyard.
The DNA of François Lecompte Champagne is also characterized by organic-oriented vine growing, natural wine-making, and traditional champagne processing.
THE NATURAL WINE-MAKING
François Lecompte makes completely natural champagne wine, without adding any artificial yeast.
This process takes place either in stainless steel vats, or in the case of Cuvée Céleste, in oak barrels.
The first natural alcoholic fermentation begins after the grapes have been pressed on the premises, and then François Lecompte Champagne wine keeps fermenting gently and naturally over the next months. The bottling takes place the next year in July or August.
THE SLOW AGING OF THE WINE
After the bottling, the bottles are taken down to the cellars, where they stay for more than six years, in the dark, at the required temperature of 9° C all along the year, according to the ancestral tradition.
The chalk cellars in our Champagne area allow us to keep the champagne in ideal conditions.
Our champagne cellars on the estate were dug by the wine-grower’s grandfather.
The maturation time of the bottles in the cellars guarantees the excellence of the champagne.
It is then,that the wine starts its second alcoholic fermentation inside the bottle, transforming the still wine into sparkling wine.
This process is called « prise de mousse ».
A deposit is going to settle in the bottle.
Thanks to the interacting between the sediment and the wine, François Lecompte Champagne will develop finesse and structure together with natural, subtle and complex aromas.
Later, the deposit is expelled (disgorgement) and some liquor is added (dosage).
Each bottle is then labelled with our brand name.
HOW TO SERVE AND ENJOY CHAMPAGNE FRANCOIS LECOMPTE
Champagne François Lecompte bottles should be stored on their side, in the dark, at a temperature of 10 to 15 ° C.
The glass
Champagne is best enjoyed in a flûte: tall and bulbous enough to allow the bubbles to develop to the full, but narrowing at the top so as to concentrate the bouquet.
Wash Champagne glasses by hand with hot water only, never soap or detergent.
Gently wipe dry, aiming to safeguard all those natural imperfections in the glass that make for a proper show of bubbles and a fine, persistent ring on the surface of the wine.
Temperature
The ideal serving temperature is 8-10°C.
Champagne is best chilled by placing the bottle in a bucket filled with ice and water for 20 minutes, or in the refrigerator for several hours.