Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Longitude Blanc de Blancs NV Base 14. Disg. Sep 2018

Longitude is a blanc de blancs drawn from a north-south line of Côte des Blancs villages, all of them close to the fourth meridian, which is where the wine gets its name.

Larmandier-Bernier is based at Vertus, at the southern end of the Côte des Blancs. The estate was formed in 1971 by the marriage of Philippe Larmandier and Elisabeth Bernier, and Pierre and Sophie Larmandier have run it since 1988. They farm around fifteen hectares, converted to organic viticulture in 1992 and to full biodynamics by 1999, on the thin soils and chalk that define the Côte. Longitude takes premier cru fruit from Vertus together with grand cru Chardonnay from Cramant, Avize and Oger, where the average vine age is over thirty years. The base wine ferments in stainless steel on indigenous yeasts, and a substantial share of reserve wine kept in foudre and older oak is blended in. The wine spends more than two years on lees and is finished as an extra brut at about four grams.

Drinking well now and it will gain in complexity over several years. Serve at around 8°C with oysters, grilled fish or a young Comté.