Champagne Laherte Frères Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature NV (Base 22. Disg. Oct 2024)

This mineral-charged Champagne is 100% Chardonnay from the family's chalkiest soils in Chavot and Épernay. These vineyards are biodynamically farmed, and the soil is rich in chalk and chalky clay (marl), with pockets of flint and schist. The chalkiness drives the wine’s striking, racy and intensely saline minerality—that energy, freshness and zingy, citric line—while the clay balances fruit weight and texture. The recent addition of Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs premier crus of Vertus and Voipreux has only lifted the remarkable quality. Built on perfectly ripe fruit, this bottling is based on the great 2022 vintage, with 40% reserve wines from the two previous years. As the name suggests, it’s bottled without dosage.

Aged for just over two years in bottle following primary fermentation in barrique, foudre and tronconique cask, like all Laherte’s Champagnes, this cuvée is disgorged by hand. More than ever, it’s stunning value for those who love purity and minerality in their Blanc de Blancs. Now released with an additional seven months in bottle, the new disgorgement is a wonderfully sculpted Champagne, sizzling with tension and penetrating focus.