93 | Larmandier-Bernier 2013 Champagne 1er Cru Terre de Vertus Non Dose Blanc de Blancs
This is the estate’s signature wine, a selection from two midslope vineyards in Vertus, biodynamically grown, spontaneously fermented in oak casks—a naked chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs. It tastes like an oyster pulled from the cold ocean—salt, flesh and mineral—that brininess fattened up by white-nectarine intensity, the wine lasting on lemon and chalky freshness.
Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, NY
92 | Larmandier-Bernier Champagne 1er Cru Longitude Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs
Pierre Larmandier blends this wine from his biodynamically farmed vineyards running along a north-south axis in the Côte des Blancs. He ferments it with ambient yeasts in a mix of old foudres and neutral barrels, later blending in 40 percent from a perpetual reserve he began in 2004. The wine is cool and rich, with briskness in the bubbles and in the buzz of gentle acidity that lends a chalky abrasion to the finish. Its focus and length make it a refreshing companion to grilled fish.
Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, NY
NV Larmandier-Bernier Extra Brut Rosé de Saignée (2018 base)
Rating 94
Drink Date NA
Variety Proprietary Blend
Source End of March 2021, The Wine Advocate
The NV Extra Brut Rosé de Saignée (2018 base) will soon be disgorged, and readers will be able to identify it by its deeper, unusually saturated hue without looking at the small print. Bursting with aromas of pear, plums, orange rind and sweet berries, it’s medium to full-bodied, round and enveloping, with a ripe core of fruit and the most phenolic presence I’ve tasted in this perennially superb cuvée. That makes this 2018 base a more vinous, gastronomic wine, which will offer interesting possibilities at the table.
NV Larmandier-Bernier Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Longitude
Rating 93
Drink Date 2020 – 2035
Variety Chardonnay
Source End of March 2021, The Wine Advocate
Another lovely wine from Larmandier-Bernier, the 2017-base NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Longitude was disgorged in April 2020 with three grams per liter dosage. Mingling aromas of citrus oil, green apple and pear with hints of white flowers and fresh bread, it’s medium to full-bodied, elegantly enveloping and precise, with a more mineral, chiseled profile than the Latitude bottling, reflecting its origins in optimally situated parcels in Vertus, Oger, Avize, Cramant. As I’ve written before, this is one of the finest non-vintage bottlings to be found in Champagne, and it comes warmly recommended.
2017 Larmandier-Bernier Coteaux Champenois Cramant Nature
Rating 93
Drink Date 2020 – 2030
Variety Chardonnay
Source End of March 2021, The Wine Advocate
The Larmandier family has bottled the contents of a single 500-liter barrel as the 2017 Coteaux Champenois Cramant Nature, and the results are impressive. Opening in the glass with scents of pear, waxy citrus rind, fresh pastry, blanched almonds and vanilla pod, it’s medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, with fine concentration and an elegantly seamless profile, concluding with a saline finish.
2014 Larmandier-Bernier Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Terre de Vertus
Rating 94+
Drink Date 2023 – 2045
Variety Chardonnay
Source End of March 2021, The Wine Advocate
Disgorged in January 2020, the 2014 Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Terre de Vertus is a fine follow-up to the excellent 2013 and 2012 renditions. Unwinding in the glass with scents of white flowers, citrus oil, crisp orchard fruit, fresh pastry and almonds, it’s full-bodied, layered and vinous, with more richness and mid-palate amplitude than the tauter 2013, underpinned by racy acids and chalky structuring extract.
2011 Larmandier-Bernier Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant
Rating 97
Drink Date 2020 – 2033
Variety Chardonnay
Source End of March 2021, The Wine Advocate
Revisited from the June 2019 disgorgment, Larmandier-Bernier’s 2011 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant continues to drink superbly, bursting from the glass with aromas of pear, peach, toasted almonds, white flowers, fresh bread and oyster shell. Full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it’s deep and fleshy, with superb concentration, racy acids and a long, saline finish. I have previously contended that Pierre Larmandier produced Champagne’s wines-of-the-vintage in 2011, and every bottle I open seems to confirm that. Indeed, if one were to taste only his wines, along with those produced by a small handful of other growers, one could easily think very differently about this unheralded year.