Laherte Freres Champagne Extra-Brut 'Ultradition'
Regular price $133.00
Unit price per
- TASTING NOTE: “The NV Extra Brut Ultradition is a very pretty, gracious wine consisting of a blend of 60% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir from eight vineyard sources. 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. Disgorged: March 2023.” 90 Points - Antonio Galloni, Vinous
- ABOUT THE WINE: Disgorged March 2023. Dubbed “just impeccable, especially within its peer group” by Galloni, Ultradition is made from biodynamically grown fruit. There are now two reserve vintages blended in, making up 40% of the blend, and 60% comprises barrel-aged material. The varietal blend remains 60% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir, with the fruit drawn from seven different parcels across the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay and Vallée de la Marne (namely Chavot, Mancy, Morangis, Le Breuil, Boursault, Moussy and Vaudancourt). The average age of the vines is 30 years. Aurélien Laherte naturally ferments the juice in a mixture of vessels, including two 50-hectolitre Rousseau tronconique casks, old barrels, foudre and concrete. Regardless of vessel, the wines are always on lees and malolactic conversion is partially completed (around 60-70% on average). Based on the 2020 vintage with 40% reserve wines from 2019 and 2018, this bottling was disgorged with a dosage of 4.5 g/L (extra brut).
- ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Laherte Frères was founded in 1889 by Jean-Baptiste Laherte, although the Laherte family sold grapes to the local cooperative for many years. Michel Laherte, the father of current proprietors Thierry and Christian Laherte, began to bottle champagne under his own label, and when brothers Thierry and Christian took over the estate, they appropriately changed the name back to Laherte Frères. Since 2002, they have been joined by Thierry’s son Aurélien, who represents the seventh generation of his family to grow vines in this area and is now fully in charge of the estate. The Lahertes own ten hectares of vines, spread over an astonishing 75 parcels in ten different villages. All farming practices are biodynamic or organic. Laherte Frères is registered as a négociant-manipulant, but in reality this is true grower champagne, and all of the wines are estate-grown. The NM designation is the result of a bureaucratic formality: each member of the immediate family—Thierry, Christian, Aurélien, his mother Laurence—owns a portion of vines, and the company of Laherte Frères “purchases” the grapes from the family members. If it were registered today it would likely be called an SR (société de récoltant), but that structure did not exist at the time.
- COUNTRY: France
- REGION: Champagne
- SUB-REGION: Vallee de la Marne
- VARIETAL: Pinot Meunier 60%, Chardonnay 30%, Pinot Noir 10%
- WINE STYLE: Sparkling Wine
- WINEMAKER: Aurélien Laherte
- CALSSIFICATION: Minimal Intervention, Grower Champagne, Unfined & Unfiltered, Organic/Biodynamic Farming, Vegan
- CLOSURE: Cork
- ABV%: 12.5%
- SIZE: 750ml
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