2013 Champagne Larmandier Bernier Grand Cru Vieille Vigne du Levant (Disg. Mar 2023)

Both plots are located at the heart of Cramant’s southeast-facing slopes, on the flanks of the Butte de Saran. Basking in the first rays of the morning sun, these vineyards give wonderfully ripe and layered wines. The deep root system of the old vines combines with the terroir to bring a wine of glowing density and opulence. It offers a fascinating, concentrated and stone-fruited contrast to the other Larmandier cuvées (not to mention other producers’ Cramant wines). It remains a super-mineral wine, but here there is more flesh, more weight, more body.

This Blanc de Blancs was historically labelled Vieille Vigne de Cramant. Nothing has changed save for the name, which is now inspired by the vineyard where the majority of grapes are sourced, Bourron du Levant (planted in 1960). The balance comes from a 0.5-hectare holding in the neighbouring terroir of Le Fond du Bâteau (with 75-year-old vines).

The winemaking across each of Larmandier’s single-terroir wines is similar; here it is natural fermentation and malo, 12 months in large Stockinger barrels and no filtration. This cuvée, however, spends at least seven years in bottle on lees (nearly nine years for the 2013). This release was disgorged with only two grams per litre dosage.