Unless you drank as much Cristal as we did on Bastille Day, your day wasn’t as good as ours. Never mind the City of Lights, fireworks, and the celestial lighting of the Eiffel Tower. We had our own Vive La France celebration 3,500 miles away in Boston chatting with Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, chief winemaker (Chef de caves) and executive vice president of production at Louis Roederer Champagne. Lécaillon had nine vintages of Roederer for us to taste, which included three Cristal Champagnes — 1990, 2004, and 1995 Rosé — giving us nine reasons to exult about our July 14, and nine more to toast one of the oldest, family-owned Champagne houses in France.

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon

Lécaillon is on the young side of middle age, good looking, robust, athletic. He’s nothing if not enthusiastic, passionate, and direct. “To me terroir is everything,” he says staring studiously at a glass of 2004 Cristal. “I learned that years ago walking the vineyards of Reims, where I grew up. Terroir gives an expression of identity to grapes. But terroir also shows how a wine’s character emerges from the vineyard, and we all know that wine starts in the vineyards. I am also the vineyard manager at Louis Roederer. My foot is on every meter of our vineyard blocks — we have 218 hectares [540 acres]. I keep my blocks separate. When we vinify and taste I’m looking for nuances generated by the terroir.” Lécaillon takes a break, now swirling and sipping a 1978 Brut, calling it “bizarre,” but admiring its definition, its mousse and elegance. The wine was old and starting to break down, but it showed that Champagne can age well, even in an average vintage like 1978.

“When we make Champagne at Roederer,” he continues, “we do not talk about blending. We don’t blend, we add,” he says with emphasis. “We highly define and shape the grapes from our five or six vineyard blocks. I’m looking for the synergy, for the spirit of the wine.” Lécaillon explains himself in artistic terms: “Synergy is like Degas. All the impressionist painters worked outside, except Degas, who worked only in his studio. I’m like Degas working inside the winery. I’m like an artist, adding here, touching there, searching for a defined composition. I know the grapes, I’ve tasted them, I have a memory of them, and then I have a vision. It isn’t blending, it’s adding, it’s synergy and artistry. It’s how Roederer is made,” he says matter-of-factly.

Lécaillon joined Louis Roederer in 1989, but worked initially in their subsidiary companies in California and Tasmania. It wasn’t until 1994 that his Champagne career started. His inaugural vintage was 1995, a very fine vintage to be sure, but his 1996 is legendary. By 1999 he was situated in a major role at the winery.

When asked about new developments, Lécaillon mentions biodynamics. Roederer is farming 26 hectares. “The difference between biodynamic and conventionally grown grapes is that biodynamic grapes often have a higher intensity of fruit flavor with bigger ripeness and fragrance. The wine can be fine but it may lack finesse. It’s still a work in progress. Conventional grapes often have more subtlety and elegance. Time will tell. Whatever, there needs to a balance of nature. It’s as important as terroir. We have to be worthy of nature, but also appreciate the fact that nature doesn’t make wine; man does. We harvest the grapes — conventional or biodynamic — and we produce wine, shape and define it, searching for nuances and flavors.”

He tastes some Brut 2004, murmurs something happily; he then tastes the 1995 Cristal — a vintage that is truly fine but overshadowed by the still finer 1996. Lécaillon looks at it like a stern schoolmaster. It’s immense but he is too modest to say so. He had a major hand in all the vintages. The underlying character of Cristal, as Master of Wine Serena Sutcliffe says, is its “persistent and lingering silky seduction.” The description is perfect. We mention it to Lécaillon. He has heard most of the adjectives and all the past praises. He’s looking, however, toward the future not the past when he says, “Roederer continues to be modern, continues to search and improve. Our job is to give the best of our generation to the next.”