The fastidious Pierre Larmandier is one of Champagne’s elite grower-producers, and today’s wine is a highly sophisticated way to wrap up a wildly eventful 2017. Hailing from the Chardonnay-heavy village of Vertus, Larmandier’s “Latitude” is a full-bodied, full-flavored Champagne which, in terms of price-to-quality, has few (if any) peers in the Côte des Blancs.
We are forever touting the pleasures (and value) of ‘grower-produced’ Champagnes, the best of which have manageable vineyard holdings; farm organically or biodynamically with lower yields; practice minimal intervention in the winery; and keep dosage levels low. Needless to say, annual production is a drop in the ocean compared to that of the large Champagne houses, or grandes marques. This, of course, doesn’t automatically equate to higher-quality wines, but when you put the greatest growers against comparable grande marque, you’ll see a clear-cut difference—a unique flair and character that mass-production just can’t replicate. This is what distinguishes Larmandier-Bernier. If you haven’t heard their name before, no worries—artisanal producers like this rarely shell out for marketing campaigns. So, while the big houses spend millions of promotional dollars, Pierre Larmandier lets his wine do the talking. See for yourself and check out this superb bottle: At this price, there are few better ways to start the New Year in style!
Although both the Larmandier and Bernier families have worked the vines for centuries, they remained separate until the marriage of Philippe Larmandier and Elisabeth Bernier in 1971. After the death of Philippe in 1988, his son, Pierre, returned to Champagne and was given full autonomy over the estate. He and his wife Sophie have been implementing artisanal practices ever since. At the behest of Sophie, all vineyards were organically converted and biodynamic viticulture soon followed. She also leads the administrative front and serves as his support system. Pierre himself says “It is difficult to be without her...we share everything.”
Now, onto the terroir. Côte des Blancs runs south from Epernay and is a gold mine for Chardonnay. A pound of grapes here can fetch some of the highest prices in the world, so you can understand why the majority of growers sell their grapes to others (roughly one in 10 growers actually produce and bottle their own Champagne). Producers like Larmandier-Bernier, well, lets just say it’s about passion first, profit second. Pierre’s “Latitude” is sourced from vineyards that run east-to-west—hence the wine’s name—within the Premier Cru village of Vertus, located at the southern tip of the Côte des Blancs. His vines average 30-35 years of age and their roots are dug into clay and chalk soils. Compared to the rest of Champagne, Pierre harvests his grapes at extremely high levels of ripeness, so even before the second fermentation (the birth of carbonation), the wine isn’t searing with acid, it’s already well-rounded. For this bottling, Pierre uses indigenous yeasts and adds 30% reserve wine (aged in large oak foudres) from a blend that dates back to 2004. The wine sits on its lees for approximately two years and is bottled with a minimal four grams of sugar, qualifying it as ‘Extra-Brut.' Something else to note: Each bottle is disgorged by hand and aged for six additional months before leaving the cellar.
In the glass, Larmandier Bernier “Latitude” reveals a bright straw-yellow core with light golden reflections flitting throughout. The nose is creamy and invites you in with green and yellow apple, white flowers, lemon blossoms, anjou pear, pineapple core, crushed chalk, brioche, white mushroom, and raw honey. This is a supremely textured and rounded Chardonnay juxtaposed with taut acidity and driven home by a strong mineral presence—that’s the charm of great Champagne. The wine rounds out with creamy accents of yellow fruit and finishes full of brightness. Despite this being ready to drink now, a wine of this magnitude will go the distance and a few years of bottle age will reach to even higher levels. That said, I don’t see how one could keep their hands off this Champagne, so if you do want to see the evolution of “Latitude,” be sure to purchase more than one bottle. If consuming this NYE, try your hardest to shed the flutes—even a large Burgundy stem would suffice—and consume around cellar temperature. Above all, enjoy these exquisite bubbles from one of Champagne’s greatest and most respected growers. While it is surely rich enough for main courses, use it to kick off the night right alongside some airy, cheesy gougères. Cheers!
