Champagne Laherte Frères Les Grandes Crayères 2017 (Disg. Jan 2021)

After the Brut Nature, this stunning Champagne is Aurélien Laherte’s second Blanc de Blancs bottling. Les Grandes Crayères showcases Laherte’s two most chalky, mineral soils in Côteaux Sud d'Épernay (crayères means ‘chalk’). These parcels of 40-plus-year-old massale selection vines are situated on a west-facing hillside composed of Campanian chalk under 20cm of topsoil.

The base wine was fermented wild in old barrels (aged three to 10 years) and didn’t go through malo, emphasising the wine’s chiselled qualities. It then spent 30 months on lees in bottle, and a further nine months resting after disgorgement before commercial release. Dosage was less than four grams per litre, and the bottling was hand-disgorged.

The review below sums up this exceptional Champagne well. There’s a cracking delivery of flavour, yet the style it lends itself to is more savoury, spicy and mineral, with poised power balanced by piercing brightness.

“Taken from two parcels in Chavot planted in 1953 and 1978, Laherte's 2017 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Grandes Crayères 1er Cru is a wine of subtlety and nuance. There is a feeling of translucence here that is so appealing. The 2017 doesn't quite have the resonance of last year's release but it is very fine nonetheless. Pretty floral notes linger. Dosage is 2-4 grams per liter. Disgorged: January, 2021.” 94 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous