Tasting Notes
Blend. Dubbed “just impeccable, especially within its peer group” by Galloni, Laherte’s Meunier-led ‘entry-level’ Champagne is from eight different parcels across the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay and Vallée de la Marne. The blend of 60% Meunier, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir represents the diversity of the estate’s plantings. Some 40% of the blend these days is drawn from the two preceding vintages.
The juice naturally ferments in a mixture of vessels, including two 50-hectolitre Rousseau tronconique casks, old barrels, foudre and concrete. Regardless of vessel, the wines are always aged on lees, and there is partial malolactic conversion (around 60-70% on average). Based on the 2021 vintage with 40% reserve wines from 2020 and 2019, this bottling was disgorged with a dosage of 4.5 g/L (extra brut).
This is a top-value grower wine—bright, pure and juicy with loads of delicious redcurrant, floral and red apple-skin Meunier fruit. A hint of spice adds complexity, and the finish is bright as a button, driven by zesty, mineral length. The quality for this price is outstanding. - Importer Note
The wines of Laherte Frères bring something unique and delicious to our suite of grower Champagne. This is our first grower from the Coteaux Sud d'Epernay (slopes to the south of Epernay ) where they are certainly the benchmark. They are based in Chavot, where most of their vines are situated, but they also have some parcels in other villages of the Coteaux Sud area as well some tiny holdings in the Côte des Blancs and the Marne Valley. In total they have some 10 hectares broken up into an amazing 75 parcels.The distinctive, geologically complex terroir of Chavot and the Coteaux Sud d'Epernay in general is very different to the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims areas where our other growers are based, and the style of wine is creamier and with more fruit generosity (to generalise). It's a deliciously textured and yet racy style of Champagne that quite adds another string to our Champagne bow.The vineyard practices at Laherte Frères are impressive. Most of the Estate is biodynamically farmed with the exception of those vineyards that are too far away to do so (mainly those in the Côte des Blancs and the Marne Valley). These latter sites are still managed organically, with the soils cultivated and no herbicides or pesticides used. The high standards continue in the cellar. Aurèlien uses the traditional Coquard wooden Champagne presses. He has two of these (very unusual for an Estate of this small size), which allows him to press more quickly and also to keep small parcels separate. The wines are moved only by gravity. Fermentation occurs with natural yeast and more than 80 percent of the wine is fermented and matured in large foudres and old barriques (many 10+ years of age), as all Champagne once was pre the 1950s. Interestingly Aurèlien buys barrels from Benjamin Leroux (small world!) and the Liger-Belair family (of la Romanee fame).Working with oak has a number of advantages including giving the grower the ability to have all of their different parcels fermented and matured separately. This focus on terroir expression, the use of traditional barrel ageing to help the wines express themselves, the meticulous viticulture along with the unique terroir of the Coteaux d'Epernay, are the keys to understanding these expressive and delicious wines. They are very different to anything else in our portfolio and we are sure you will enjoy them (if you haven't already). - Rob Walters
| Product Type | Wine Sparkling Champagne |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | France |
| Region | Champagne |
| Sub Region | Epernay |
| Winemaking Practices | Minimal Intervention |
| Vineyard Practices | Organic/Biodynamic |