Champagne Laherte Frères Ultradition NV Base 18. Disg. June 2021

Ultradition is the house cuvée of Laherte Frères, led by Meunier from the family's vines around Chavot.

Laherte Frères is a seventh-generation grower family based at Chavot-Courcourt, on the ground between the Côte des Blancs and the Vallée de la Marne. Aurélien Laherte joined his father Thierry and his uncle Christian in 2002 and now heads the estate, which works ten hectares split into some seventy-five parcels across ten villages, four fifths of them within five kilometres of home. The vineyards were certified organic from 2010 until the certification was given up after the mildew of 2016; the work continues parcel by parcel, with spring ploughing, plant infusions and the biodynamic preparations 500 and 501. Ultradition is roughly sixty per cent Meunier with thirty per cent Chardonnay and ten per cent Pinot Noir, and about forty per cent of the blend is reserve wine. Fermentation is split between foudre, tank and barrel with regular lees stirring, malolactic is partial, and dosage is modest. This bottling draws on the 2018 base and was disgorged in June 2021.

Drinking well now and good for a few years yet. Serve at about 8°C with charcuterie, roast chicken or mushroom tart.