Laherte Freres Ultradition Extra Brut Champagne

D&M NOTES:

TASTING: This Grower Champagne is based around 2015 with 40% coming from a reserve. It is 60% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Noir, finished with a dosage of 4.5 grams of dosage. Located in the Cote Sud de Epernay, this blend shows an aroma set of spice, crushed rocks, light clotted cream and Mirabelle yellow plum. The palate is moderate in weight with a tensioned cut of minerals, light stone fruits, and apple skins.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Aurélien Laherte is part of a dynamic generation of young vignerons making waves in Champagne and producing a fine array of terroir-driven wines using a natural approach to viticulture and winemaking. Along with his high school friend Raphael Bereche – another star in the region - Aurélien founded the “Terres et Vins” collective of producers back in 2009. This group taps some of Champagne’s more progressive and like-minded producers, including Agrapart, Marie-Courtin, Vincent Laval, Benoit Lahaye, among others. Each spring, the group holds a tasting in Champagne to showcase both the vins clairs of the previous harvest as well as their actual bubbly versions.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM:

“The wine delivers a refined aromatic constellation of white peach, apple, bread dough, chalky soil tones and a delicate topnote of meunier flowers. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and complex, with a lovely core, excellent balance and grip, refined mousse and a long, focused and classy finish.” - 92 PTS, JOHN GILMAN, VIEW FROM THE CELLAR (05/2023)

“The NV Extra Brut Ultradition is a very pretty, gracious wine…Perfumed floral and spice notes give the Ultradition lovely brightness to match its mid-weight, notably vinous personality. Orchard fruit, chamomile, dried herbs, mint and crushed rocks are all wonderfully expressive, if a bit light. This is an especially nuanced edition.” - 90 PTS, ANTONIO GALLONI, VINOUS MEDIA (11/2023)