Larmandier-Bernier

In the 1990s, Pierre Larmandier and his wife, Sophie, began to work the soils of their vineyards and abandoned the use of herbicides, moving toward organic and then biodynamic farming. Sophie provided the inspiration. “I always said I could never marry a vigneron,” she told me, “because of all the chemicals they use in the vineyards, but Pierre changed my mind.” Even if Champagne’s landscape is slowly beginning to change, they have had few imitators. "I thought I could be five years ahead of the others in giving up on chemical farming," Pierre observed to me, "but I never imagined that I might be 50 years ahead!" Pierre's father had always advocated picking mature fruit, and with the new farming methods, the wines became almost too concentrated and tightly wound, he relates. So, changes in the winery followed suit: fermentation in wood—foudres, demi-muids and barrels (today, mainly from Austrian cooper Stockinger)—instead of stainless steel, and the use of ambient instead of selected yeasts.

Larmandier-Bernier numbers among the Côte de Blanc's—and Champagne's—finest estates. Based in Vertus, the Larmandier family farms organically and harvests late, vinifying the resulting wines in wood. The result is vinous, elegantly muscular Champagnes that are concentrated but precise. In a region that still produces far too many meager, brittle wines, Larmander-Bernier reminds us of the plenitude and texture of which great Champagne is capable. The range begins with two non-vintage Blanc de Blancs: Latitude, broad and charming, and Longitude, more chiseled and incisive. Next come three vintage cuvées: Vieille Vigne de Levant, from Cramant; Les Chemins d’Avize, from the eponymous village; and the Terre de Vertus. Two perfumed rosé de saignée cuvées complement the portfolio, now joined by small quantities of still red and white Côteaux Champenois. As remarkable for their consistency as their quality, any wine that bears this family’s label is well worth seeking out.