Description
Pierre & Sophie Larmandier are one of the great Champagne growers… Few growers have laid bare their terroir quite so transparently as this biodynamic pioneer, challenging tasters to assess Champagne as they would any other great wine. Larmandier’s tireless work in the vineyard, his minimalist approach in the winery, his deep-thinking and non-conformist views – not to mention his super mineral terroir – results in a group of intensely saline, mineral wines.
100% Chardonnay, the current release embodies everything you could hope for in a Larmandier Champagne; they are precise, captivating, intense and immaculately sculpted vins de terroir.
“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
“Larmandier-Bernier exemplifies the level of purity and mineral focus that can be drawn out of primarily premier cru terroir with sufficient care and attention. These exceedingly fine wines rightfully rank high amongst the finest of Champagne’s grower producer” –Tyson Stelzer, The Champagne Guide
The name here refers to the “vertical” nature of the geographic locations of the vineyards as well as capturing the more linear, mineral style of the finished wine. While Latitude is expansive across the palate, Longitude is all about linearity and raciness. This is again 100% Côte des Blancs Chardonnay, yet this time the vineyards are all north of the village of Vertus, where the topsoils are much thinner and the vines plunge straight into the chalky bedrock. To be specific, the vineyards are located in Cramant, Avize, Oger, and Vertus (north of the village). Connecting the dots between these communes forms a line close to the 4th meridian and hence the name Longitude.
In the cuverie Larmandier uses a combination of neutral barrel, foudre (almost all the wood now comes from Stockinger in Austria) and less and less steel tank. The alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place without inoculation, and there’s no fining or filtration. Bottle maturation takes place quietly over a period of more than 2 years, and each bottle is disgorged manually 6 months before being released and dosed with a very low 3-4 grams per litre (i.e., it is an extra brut). As you might expect, being also a Blanc de Blancs sourced from the same vineyards, this is very close in style to previous releases. Expect a vibrant, crystalline and remarkably refined Champagne, crackling with chalky energy and bright, citrus and nectarine fruit. Such purity and minerality could only come from the man that Laurent d’Harcourt, MD of Pol Roger, recently dubbed “The Ayatollah of quality !” and his impeccably tended vineyards. As with the Latitude cuvee, Longitude is dosed with very low 3-4 grams per litre (extra brut).
“Purity of white peach and preserved lemon is impressive, with the complexity and depth of a lesser vintage base already building spicy notes of toast and fig. As always, it is the tremendous minerality of these terroirs that is most impressive, gliding long and seamless from start to finish. A complex and creamy blanc de blancs of great depth upholding lively acid tension on a very long finish.” 95 points, Tyson Stelzer, The Champagne Guide 2014-2015
RRP $129 **SPECIAL $84.99 when you buy 6 of this wine**
