Larmandier-Bernier Blanc de Noirs in Wooden Box

Larmandier-Bernier Blanc de Noirs is a zero dosage grower Champagne from Vertus, presented in a wooden box.

Just 1.2 hectares of old-vine Pinot Noir sit on the southern side of Vertus, where the soil carries more clay and a little more richness. Those vines are best known as the source of the domaine's pioneering Rose de Saignee, and Pierre Larmandier has long made a small amount of still red from them, in the tradition of a Vertus Rouge once as celebrated as the reds of Bouzy. A white wine from them is new. The 2015 season favoured Pinot Noir here, so the base wine was naturally fermented and raised eleven months on lees in large cask and vat, bottled in July 2016, then disgorged in May 2022 with zero dosage.

With almost six years on lees and no dosage, it is dry, savoury and broad, with red apple, dried citrus and a chalky, saline finish. Serve at 10 degrees in a white wine glass. It handles roast chicken and hard cheese, and the box makes it straightforward to give away.