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Champagne Larmandier-Bernier

Outstanding Earth-to-Glass Grower Champagne from a Biodynamic Tour de Force

Pierre Larmandier told us a funny story. He had received a call from the owner of a one-star restaurant in Epernay with a request to pour Larmandier-Bernier by the glass. Pierre was curious—this restaurant had hardly been an ambassador for the wines of the best growers. Why the sudden call? “Well,” the owner explained, “I have a young sommelier who has just returned from Australia, and now he insists that we pour Larmandier-Bernier!” Who would have thought that the Australian wine scene would one day awaken the restaurants of Champagne to the glories of great grower wines? But there you go.

Larmandier-Bernier is a foundational grower on several levels. Of course, Larmandier-Bernier was one of the pioneers in organics/biodynamics and of what many today call the grower revolution in Champagne. Yet, it has also been a foundational estate in the Australian trade—it was likely the first great grower producer many of us tasted back in the day. Larmandier-Bernier, along with Egly-Ouriet, helped shape the Champagne market we now enjoy by winning listings and pours at many benchmark restaurants. All this at a time (almost 15 years ago now) when pouring Champagne without a famous brand name was simply not done. Larmandier-Bernier helped change all that. And they continue to help shape the market today—even in Épernay.

Such purity and minerality could only come from the impeccably tended vineyards of a man Laurent d'Harcourt, MD of Pol Roger, dubbed “The Ayatollah of quality” (he clearly knows the man well).

This estate is meticulously run by Pierre Larmandier and his wife, Sophie. Pierre’s family has owned vineyards in the Côte des Blancs since the Revolution, and Pierre took over the vines from his mother in 1988. He stopped using herbicide in 1992, then went organic, and today, the estate is also farmed biodynamically—extremely rare in Champagne, where only 2% of the vineyard surface is certified organic. The estate is now 18 hectares, predominantly in Vertus, at the southern tip of the Côte des Blancs, yet there are also holdings in Cramant, Chouilly, Oger and Avize. There is a predominance of old vine parcels—50, 60, and even 70 years old—again, something that is very rare in Champagne. This naturally keeps the yields low by Champagne standards, at 50 hl/ha on average.

In the winery, the approach is classically “minimalist” with indigenous yeasts, long, slow ferments of up to two months and very little sulphur. Various fermenting and aging vessels are used, including large oak vats and, more recently, some amphorae. Very low dosage levels are designed to be as neutral as possible. Sometimes, as is the case in the Terre de Vertus, there is no dosage at all. In other words, everything is designed to maximise the expression of the vineyard, commune and vintage. The resulting wines are wonderful expressions of their origins: fine and vinous, yet with a mineral intensity that keeps you coming back to the glass, sip after sip. In his book Champagne [Ten Speed Press], Peter Liem wrote: “Larmandier-Bernier is one of the finest estates in the Côte des Blancs, producing wines of unusual detail and clarity of expression. The style is for champagnes that are dry, minerally and terroir-driven, emphasizing purity and finesse over richness or sheer power.”

Like other benchmark growers, this producer keeps evolving and reaching greater heights. The wines still have the energy and intense minerality they have always offered, and now there is even more depth, detail and complexity. In part, this is due to an increase in the lees aging cycle, which the Larmandiers deem essential to the expression of their wines. For some time, Pierre and Sophie Larmandier have also indicated their wish to age their Champagnes for even longer before release, and the new underground maturation cellar grants them this opportunity.

Currently Available

Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Longitude Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. Feb 24)

Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Longitude Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. Feb 24)

Like this grower’s Latitude, this is 100% Côte des Blancs Chardonnay (the vineyards are in Cramant, Avize, Oger and Vertus), yet the vineyards have thinner topsoils so the vine roots plunge straight into the chalky bedrock. The name refers to the vertical nature of the geographic locations of the vineyards as well as the style of wine resulting from the chalky soils of these sites. While Larmandier’s Latitude is expansive across the palate, the Longitude is all about minerality, line and raciness. William Kelley has called this wine “one of the finest non-vintage bottlings to be found in Champagne”, and the high ratio of reserve wines should leave you with little doubt as to the quality on offer. This bottling is based on the 2020 vintage, with 40% reserve wine drawn from a ‘perpetual’ reserve started in 2004. 

“Based on the 2020 vintage and disgorged in November 2022, the new release of Larmandier's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Longitude wafts from the glass with aromas of sweet citrus fruit, fresh pastry, green apple and flowers. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, its satiny attack segues into a racy, broad-shouldered mid-palate, concluding with a chalky finish.”
92 points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
“The NV Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Longitude 1er Cru is a powerful, ample wine. The Longitude builds beautifully in the glass, creamy and textured, with tons of resonance. Pear, white pepper, dried flowers, mint and chalk are all delineated in a Champagne that blends power and tension. This is all class.”
94 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous
“Quite a rich, round Champagne, creaminess inherent with a light, sherbetty freshness of briny acidity. It feels elegant, fine boned, green apple, ginger, buttered brioche, a dusting of cinnamon. The finish somewhat chalky and puckering, a neat finish to a wine with amplitude. Perhaps a little more simple, but well balanced and delicious, generally speaking.”
93 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Longitude Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 20 Disg. Feb 24)
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Blanc de Noirs 2015 (Disg. May 2022)

Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Blanc de Noirs 2015 (Disg. May 2022)

Disgorged May 2022. Larmandier-Bernier tends just 1.2-hectares of old-vine Pinot Noir in Vertus, grown on the southern side of the village where the soil is a little richer, with higher clay content. These vines are best known as the source for the domaine’s pioneering Rosé de Saignée. Over the years Pierre Larmandier has also made a little still wine from these vines—in the past, Vertus Rouge was as famous as the red wines of Bouzy—but, until now, never a Blanc de Noirs.2015 was a beautiful year for Pinot Noir in Vertus, leading Larmandier to vinify a white Champagne from these grapes alongside the rosé. It’s made in the same way as the domaine’s Terre de Vertus, with the base wine naturally fermented and raised in a mixture of large cask and vat for 11 months on lees and tiraged in July 2016. Following almost six years in bottle, it was disgorged in May 2022 with zero dosage to preserve the natural richness of the Pinot Noir.The result is wonderfully complex and vinous Blanc de Noirs. A scintillating cocktail of red apple, sour berry compote and rushing minerals introduces a powerfully structured palate balanced by a rigid spine of freshness and tense, holding grip. It’s very Larmandier and very delicious; a Champagne of exceptional detail and vinous depth. A wow wine. Unfortunately, this release is very limited, and the next vintage, from 2019, is a good four years away. Make hay while the sun shines!

The result is wonderfully complex and vinous Blanc de Noirs. A scintillating cocktail of red apple, sour berry compote and rushing minerals introduces a powerfully structured palate balanced by a rigid spine of freshness and tense, holding grip. It’s very Larmandier and very delicious; a champagne of exceptional detail and vinous depth. A wow wine. Unfortunately, this release is very limited and the next vintage, from 2019, is a good four years away. Make hay while the sun shines!

Baked sour cream, smoke and bay leaf. A powerful, bone-structured rigidity. Fennel and chalk dust and bitter rain and baobab. Pretty uncompromising. Tastes like a glacial waterfall. Maritime. No curves, no corners – a cliff face of a wine.
17+ / 20, Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson.com
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Blanc de Noirs 2015 (Disg. May 2022)
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Terre de Vertus Blanc de Blancs 2017 (Disg. May 23)

Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Terre de Vertus Blanc de Blancs 2017 (Disg. May 23)

Terre de Vertus is one of three single-terroir Blanc de Blancs produced at this estate and is certainly the most famous. It is from a parcel of vines on the chalky mid-slope of Vertus, traversing the 1er Cru lieux-dits of Les Barillers and Les Faucherets. These sites produce intensely mineral wines that recall the best of Le Mesnil (to the north) in their chalky raciness and drive.This fermented naturally, with roughly 60% fermented and aged in neutral barrique and the other 40% in large Stockinger casks. Malolactic conversion began spontaneously, and the wines were left on their lees for nearly a year. After the second fermentation, the wine aged in bottle for another six years before being disgorged. There is no dosage in order to respect the purity of the terroir. The result is one of the most distinctive and mineral wines of the entire Champagne region—and one of the benchmark wines of the great grower movement. Since the mid-‘90s, this wine has always been non-dosé—long before it was fashionable. The Larmandiers made the decision because this particular terroir (when farmed in their way: old vines, biodynamics, low yields, etc.) works best without any additions. Still very young and brimming with textural richness and energy, the new release shows a little more flex than the previous vintage. Courtesy of an especially low-yielding year high in dry extract, the palate is buoyed with freshness and the chalky finish is incredibly long and scintillating. Try it with oysters, terrine, hard cheeses, roast chicken or grilled white fish. 

“The 2017 Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Terre de Vertus 1er Cru is creamy, open-knit and quite seductive. Readers will and a generous, sensual Champagne with plenty of early appeal. Vini􀀁cation and aging in oak softens the contours. Dried pear, crushed flowers, mint and chamomile build beautifully over time. This is a fine effort in a very challenging year. No dosage.”
93 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous
“This has some concentration and depth, for sure. Slick texture with a core of lime and oyster shell, some fino sherry characters, baked apple, cinnamon spice uplifting, some sour dough notes and preserved lemon. While rich, the acidity is briny and bright, cooling and slips through any generosity to add polish and shine. Almost chewy texture.”
95 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Terre de Vertus Blanc de Blancs 2017 (Disg. May 23)
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant 2013 (Disg. Sep 22)

Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant 2013 (Disg. Sep 22)

Disgorged September 2022. This Blanc de Blancs was historically labelled Vieille Vigne de Cramant. Nothing has changed save for the name, which is now inspired by the vineyard where most of the grapes come from, Bourron du Levant (planted in 1960). The balance comes from a 0.5-hectare holding in the neighbouring terroir of Le Fond du Bâteau (with 75-year-old vines). Both plots are at the heart of Cramant’s southeast-facing slopes on the flanks of the Butte de Saran. Basking in the first rays of the morning sun, these vineyards give wonderfully ripe, layered wines. The old vines’ deep root system combines with the terroir to bring a wine of glowing density and opulence. It offers a fascinating, concentrated and stone-fruited contrast to the other Larmandier cuvées (not to mention other producers’ Cramant wines). It remains a super-mineral wine, but here you have more flesh, weight and body. The winemaking across each of Larmandier’s single-terroir wines is similar. Here, it is spontaneous fermentation and malolactic conversion, 12 months in large Stockinger barrels and no filtration. This cuvée, however, spends at least eight years in bottle on lees. This release was disgorged with 2 g/L dosage.

Note: This review refers to a previous disgorgement. “The 2013 Extra Brut Vieille Vigne de Levant Grand Cru is a Champagne of real breadth and substance that captures the essence of these 50-70-year-old vines. Apricot, chamomile, dried flowers and a kiss of oak are all amplified. Vinous and creamy, the 2013 builds beautifully with time in the glass, showing tremendous character and pedigree. The 2013 was fermented and aged in a combination of neutral barrique and foudre. It's a super-classic Larmandier-Bernier Champagne. Dosage is 2 grams per liter. Disgorged: May, 2022.”
95 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous
“The Larmandier family excelled in this cooler vintage, so it's unsurprising that the 2013 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant has turned out beautifully. Wafting from the glass with notes of crisp yellow orchard fruit, brioche, white flowers, oyster shell and honeycomb, it's medium to full-bodied, deep, layered and incisive, with a tangy spine of acidity, terrific tension and a long, racy finish.”
96+ points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
“Quite a buttery, round textural feel here, the core, yes, brine, fino sherry, but baked apple pie, cinnamon scrolls, lemon curd, dried stone fruits all filling out the shopping list of characters. Bubbles are bold, vigorous, invigorating but lend some extra creaminess too. Toasty and savoury elements build too. Complexity through vinous qualities here. Wonderful wine.”
95 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant 2013 (Disg. Sep 22)
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Rosé de Saignée NV (Base 18. Disg. Apr 2021) (1500ml)

Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Rosé de Saignée NV (Base 18. Disg. Apr 2021) (1500ml)

The Rosé de Saignée is drawn mostly from what are thought to be the oldest Pinot Noir vines in Vertus (45 years old), and one of this village’s very last 100% Pinot vineyards. In fact, the vineyard is a co-planted blend of 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Gris, with both varieties contributing to this wine. The grapes were allowed to macerate for a period before the juice was drawn off, providing the colour and much of the body and flavour for the wine. This saignée technique is now rare in Champagne, primarily as it is a demanding method of vinification and it requires grapes with an excellent degree of maturity. Most rosé in Champagne is made by the addition of a little red wine. Vive la difference!As with all Larmandier’s wines it was naturally fermented. Part of this cuvée was raised in a Nomblot concrete egg and part in stainless steel, and more recently Larmandier has been also trialling amphora designed by Mizel Riouspeyrous from Domaine Arretxea. It’s one of Champagne’s wow wines, repeatedly compared to a Chambolle-Musigny. In short, it’s a Champagne that can stop drinkers in their tracks. The 2019 is a spellbinding release built on energy and crystalline tension. Although it drinks beautifully on its own, it has the depth to go with smoked or grilled salmon. Yes, do that—you won’t regret it! This bottling was disgorged with a discreet dosage of three grams per litre. It is a superb release that will be even better with a year or two in the cellar.

It’s one of Champagne’s wow wines, repeatedly compared to a Chambolle-Musigny. In short, it’s a Champagne that can stop drinkers in their tracks. The 2019 is a spellbinding release built on energy and crystalline tension. Although it drinks beautifully on its own, it has the depth to go with smoked or grilled salmon. Yes, do that—you won’t regret it! This bottling was disgorged with a discreet dosage of three grams per litre. It is a superb release that will be even better with a year or two in the cellar.

“Larmandier-Bernier's NV (2018) Extra Brut Rosé de Saignée is a very pretty wine. The style is a bit more floral and savory, with less vinous intensity than some previous editions, but plenty of ethereal nuance. This is an especially understated style. Dosage is 3 grams per liter.”
93 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous
“The NV Extra Brut Rosé de Saignée (2018 base) will soon be disgorged, and readers will be able to identify it by its deeper, unusually saturated hue without looking at the small print. Bursting with aromas of pear, plums, orange rind and sweet berries, it's medium to full-bodied, round and enveloping, with a ripe core of fruit and the most phenolic presence I've tasted in this perennially superb cuvée. That makes this 2018 base a more vinous, gastronomic wine, which will offer interesting possibilities at the table.”
94 points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
“The village of Vertus is unusual in the Côte des Blancs for playing host to a historical plantation of Pinot Noir. Here it is assembled with a little Pinot Gris by Côte des Blancs stalwarts Pierre and Sophie Larmandier into a striking, deep-cherry rosé de saignée (made by macerating the Pinot Noir skins in the juice at press). Absolutely bursting with strawberry and floral tones yet still manages to retain a linear, focused energy and supple texture that’s quite unusual for the style. A Côte des Blancs original.”
93 points, Tom Hewson, Decanter
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier 1er Cru Rosé de Saignée NV (Base 18. Disg. Apr 2021) (1500ml)
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Latitude Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 19. Disg. Sep 23) (1500ml)

Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Latitude Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 19. Disg. Sep 23) (1500ml)

Base 2021, Disg. April 2024. Latitude is 100% Côte des Blancs Chardonnay from vineyards on the southern side of Vertus. These vineyards are on roughly the same latitude, hence the name, which also hints at the breadth of texture that wines from these sites—having more clay in the soil—tend to offer. In the cellar, Larmandier uses mostly large casks (almost all the wood now comes from Stockinger in Austria). Fermentation and malolactic fermentation take place naturally, and there is no filtration. Latitude matures in bottle for more than two years before disgorgement and dosage at low, extra-brut levels (in this case, 3 g/L) at least six months before release. This bottling is based on the 2021 vintage, with 40% reserve wine drawn from a ‘perpetual’ reserve started in 2004. Upcoming releases will include fruit from some terrific vineyards in Villeneuve and Bergères, which will only further buttress the quality.

“The NV Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Latitude 1er Cru is bright, punchy and full of mineral-driven intensity. Crushed flowers, lemon peel, sage, mint and crushed rocks build as this potent, intensely saline Champagne opens in the glass. This is impressive. As always, the Latitude is a Champagne built on textural breadth and volume, typical of wines from the southern sector of Vertus. This release is based on 2019 and 40% a perpetual reserve that goes back to 2004. Dosage is 3 grams per liter.”
94 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Latitude Blanc de Blancs NV (Base 19. Disg. Sep 23) (1500ml)
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AT-A-GLANCE

• This organic and biodynamic pioneer of the region is a formative figure in Champagne’s grower revolution.

• The family traces its viticultural roots back centuries. Pierre Larmandier and his wife Sophie have run the domaine since the late ’80s, and the family line continues with sons Arthur and Georges in the business.

• The domaine is in the Côte des Blancs, where the family farms 18 hectares, predominantly in Vertus.

• The philosophy is simple: wild yeasts, slow ferments and long maturations in various vessels (including amphora and wood) and negligible to no dosage.

• The wines put commune/site at centre stage and are prized for their focus, complexity and intense mineral drive.

• The range centres on Côte des Blancs Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs but includes a Blanc de Noirs Pinot Noir and saignée rosé, both from Vertus.

IN THE PRESS

“The Larmandier-Bernier Champagnes are some of the purest and most utterly engaging wines being made in the region today. I can’t recommend them highly enough.” Antonio Galloni, The Wine Advocate

“Few growers’ ranges in Champagne are as consistently outstanding as that of Larmandier-Bernier” Andrew Jefford, The New France

“In a region where vineyard work is not always given the priority it deserves, Larmandier-Bernier is a model of what can be achieved through conscientious and diligent care in the vines.” Peter Liem

“Pierre and Sophie Larmandier craft dramatic, vinous wines of real personality and class. Sustainable farming practices, indigenous fermentations and aging in cask are some of the cornerstones of an approach that yields distinctly potent, textured wines full of character.” Antonio Galloni, Vinous

Country

France

Primary Region

Champagne

People

Winemaker: Pierre Larmandier

Availability

National

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