2014 Laherte Frères "Les Empreintes" Extra Brut, Champagne, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

50% Chardonnay (1/3 of Chardonnay muscaté). Les Chemins d’Epernay. Clay soils with a little silt stratum in surface. Chalky subsoil. Plots planted in 1957. The other half of the cuvée is 50% Pinot Noir. Les Rouges Maisons. Soil fairly deep with an important presence of clay, flints and schists. Chalky subsoils. Plots planted in 1983.

Picked up by hand when fully ripen, traditional press. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in barrels. Malolactic fermentation not made. Aging on fine lees.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Jean-Baptiste Laherte set up the family estate in 1889, planting most of the vines in the village of Chavost, which was to become Chavot. The estate gradually grew over generations, and covers today over 11 hectares through the Champagne region. The sixth and seventh generations are now working together to create wines that are just like them - pure, sincere and authentic. They share their experience and combine their efforts to make the most of this beautiful heritage.
Since 2005, Aurélien Laherte - the seventh generation - has been giving a new dimension to the estate, while following in the footsteps of his father Thierry and his uncle Christian, the Laherte brothers. Passionately, they promote the family’s values and continue to bring the best out of the terroir.

Throughout the year, we are fully dedicated to our vines and follow carefully their development. We are constantly on the watch to better appreciate their natural beauty, by observing, feeling, tasting, listening, touching. We have created a range of authentic, pure and unique Champagne wines – authentic like our land, pure like our terroir and unique like our work. At Laherte Frères, the expression “terroir wine” takes on full significance.

Today, 80% of the estate’s wines are fermented and matured in wooden receptacles (we own about 350 oak barrels, as well as 6 casks and 1 truncated-cone tank). This enables us to preserve and highlight the features of each locality and to let grow our wines, coming from 75 plots. We think that the best way to make the most of our terroir is to reveal its intimate personality through our wines. Massal selection, plot by plot vinification, immediate and delicate pressing, and minimal dosage are key elements of our wine-growing strategy. Because we are passionate about what we do, we follow a largely hands-off approach to allow the terroir to display its whole character. From the deep roots of the land to the cellar, we are continually striving to highlight the true nature of our vines. This conscious and sensitive approach, that has always been close to our hearts, shapes each and every Laherte Frères cuvée.