Lambert de Seyssel Brut "Petit Royal" NV

Seyssel may be unknown to many oenophiles today, but the vineyards of this small appellation are regularly mentioned in documents dating back to at least the 11th century. With the development of sparkling wine production methods in the 19th century, a new Seyssel mousseux was created that quickly gained great popularity. The "Royal Seyssel" label (originally called "Royal Carte Bleue"), Launched in 1901 by the Varichon and Clerc families, was considered for many years to be the best sparkling Seyssel on the market. But, when the operation was purchased in the 1990s by a large Burgundian negociant, quality suffered and in 2007 the owners closed the local winery, keeping only the rights to the name 'Varichon et Clerc' in order to shift the name recognition in the market to their other sparkling wines. Dismayed to see what their great local wine had come to, Seysselans G�rard and Catherine Lambert teamed up with Olivier Varichon, great-grandson of the founder, to buy back the Royal Seyssel label and recreate the light, floral wine that was once so renowned. The sparkling wines of Seyssel indulge in the same m�thode traditionnelle production techniques used for Champagne. The house style is quite dry (low dosage) in order to preserve the character of the grape varieties.