“For readers who want to explore the cutting edge of grower Champagne, I can think of few estates that match Laherte for the breadth and quality of the wines.” Antonio Galloni, Vinous Some of the best things happen slowly. Aurélien Laherte is not an overnight success; he took over from his father Thierry and his uncle Christian in 2005 when barely in his twenties. Since that time, through a combination of cutting-edge farming and fearless winemaking, he has now hit a level that compares with the best grower wines in Champagne. One of the most vocal barometers of great grower Champagne, Antonio Galloni recently remarked that Laherte is crafting “some of the most compelling wines in all of Champagne.” Perhaps even more telling, Jérôme Prévost—a grower who knows a thing or two about Meunier—recently told us pretty much the same thing. Even the slow-moving establishment has smelled the coffee: Laherte was recently honoured with a second star in the Guide de la Revue du Vin de France, “for the precision, complexity, and emotion that its cuvées evoke.” By reaching this rare level, Laherte’s intensely focused wines have, rather brilliantly, expanded the limits of what many thought possible in the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay. This exciting terroir sits at the crossroads of the Côte des Blancs and Vallée de la Marne and is home to over 60% of Laherte’s vines. And Laherte is as talented and ambitious in the cellar as he is in the vineyard, working with natural yeast, neutral oak, and ever longer lees aging and more reserve wines to craft some of Champagne’s most distinctive and delicious wines. If you haven’t tasted these wines for a while, please get in touch with your rep to arrange a tasting—they will be happy to oblige!