Champagne Laherte Frères Meunier & Meslier Brut Rosé
Aurélien Laherte believes that Champagne should be for everyone. I couldn’t agree more.
Champagne Laherte Frères was founded in 1889 by Jean-Baptiste Laherte in the village of Chavot. Seven generations later, Aurélien Laherte is a grower champagne producer who makes terroir driven wines of power yet playful, decadent and full of energy. Laherte is one of the most innovative and dynamic grower-producers in the region. The wines are known for their intense acidity and long, mineral packed finish. Maybe it is because of his natural, biodynamic approach, maybe it’s the individual parcels of terroir that they choose for their wines or maybe they are just that good at what they do.
Laherte Frères are located in the Côteaux Sud D'Epernay which is a sub region squished between Cotes des Blancs and Vallée de la Marne. It has the best of both soils from both regions. The chalk imparts shelly aromas and minerality, the clay promotes ripe flavors and texture to the wines. They focus on single parcel fermentation so they can create wines of purity of sense of place and terroir. They then carefully blend to create wines with their own unique personalities. These wines are all vinified in used neutral barrels, no malolactic fermentation, without fining or filtering. They use little or no dosage as to not mask the beautiful individualistic terroir.
What so special about Champagne Laherte Frères Meunier & Meslier Rosé Brut Nature? For one, it’s made of a blend of 50% Petit Meslier and 50% Meunier - a very rare blend. Recap - Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the 2 principal varietals used (and legally designated) in the Champagne region. Meunier is generally used in to contribute floral aromatics and femininity in a champagne blend. Meslier is used in TINY amounts in champagne blends, if at all. That being said, both varietals suffered severe frost in 2016 harvest, significantly reduced yields for Laherte. Secondly, Petit Meslier is special as it has an incredible ability of preserving high acidity and mineral notes even during hot weather. Lastly, Laherte had the foreshadowing and instinct to know that with changing conditions in the vineyard, it was time to look at other options for their wines. The 50% Meunier is made in the saignée method (hence the incredible color) balanced with the aromatics of Meslier. After a 24-hour maceration the grapes were naturally fermented in a single, neutral barrel, produced 336 bottles of rare goodness, aged for 36 months on the lees before disgorgement.
The wine is a stunning, crazy deep pink color. It has intense yet delicate aromas of tart apple, pear, raspberry, cranberry, cherry, geranium, rose petal, chalk, brioche, pastry and cream. The texture is just so pure and uninhibited with lively acid & fine bubbles. The tart apple, pear, raspberry, cranberry, cherry, tangerine, geranium, rose petal, red licorice, chalk, brioche, pastry,cream, wet stone and hazelnut are fresh, elegant, full of expression and very complex.
Pop open that gorgeous bottle and pour a glass with roasted halibut with lime chili butter, bacon wrapped rosemary chicken thighs, smoked salmon eggs Benedict or sriracha crab cakes with lemon aioli.
