Champagne Laherte Frères 1er Cru Nature de Craie NV Base 21 Disg. May 2023

Champagne Laherte Frères 1er Cru Nature de Craie is the house’s zero-sulphur cuvée, drawn from two premier cru sites in the Côte des Blancs.

Aurélien Laherte spent several vintages working towards a Champagne made with no sulphur additions at all, and arrived at it in 2018 with two barrels of Côte des Blancs juice from premier cru terroirs at Vertus and Voipreux. He found the conditions for stability were zero dosage and full malolactic conversion, and the success of that work has since encouraged him to leave sulphites out of components of the blended wines too. Craie is French for chalk, the soil of these lower-slope parcels, whose exposure ripens the fruit sufficiently that no dosage is needed. This third release comes from a single harvest, 2021, from vines planted in 1960, 1965 and 1987. It was vinified in neutral oak barrels, aged 12 months under cork and disgorged in May 2023 with nothing added.

Drinking now and best over the next three to five years. Serve at about 8°C with grilled prawns, roast pork belly or a soft goat’s cheese.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.