Pierre Larmandier
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A number of years ago, Louis/Dressner Selections briefly imported Champagnes from Sophie and Pierre Larmandier. They were originally drawn to the producer for their great sites, natural yeasts fermentation, organic (now biodynamic) and other farming practices like ploughing their fields, keeping yields low and working at low or no dosage. After a long hiatus, Larmandier-Bernier has returned to their book.
“It's not that we believe in Grower Champagne as a category,” writes Joe Dressner. “A small estate in Vosne-Romanée is not better than Jadot, for instance, just because it is smaller. We carry small estates all over France and Italy because we have found vignerons dedicated to the hard work needed to express terroir in the bottle, not in promotional pamphlets. We don't believe that estate-bottled is better than négociant wine simply because it comes from a single estate.
“We stayed friendly with the Larmandiers over the years. Over the past few years, they grew tired of being grouped in a Grower Champagne category with colleagues who don't really work any differently than the larger houses. They want to work with partners who understand their work and explain that work to the consumer. That's why we've decided to work together again.
“For us, the low dosage at Larmandier is one of the most appealing aspects of their wine. Champagne is one of the rare regions where a winemaker gets to legally manipulate twice – by adding yeasts and enzymes during the fermentation and during the dosage. Years ago, we visited Anselme Sélosse who explained how his colleagues added a broad range of flavorings, both legal and not, during the dosage. So the modern trend toward higher dosage and higher sweetness is not simply the Yellowtailing of Champagne.
“High dosage, along with other manipulations, allow the r-m or the négociant to mask the flaws of their wine. Larmandier is able to work at no or low dosage and still gets a rich wine because the work has been done in the vineyards to produce great wine. There is no Coca-Cola secret formula but a cutting purity that is both refreshing and elegant. We've always been great fans of their Terre de Vertus bottling, which is made without dosage, but all the bottling share this sense of beauty and are clear expressions of why Champagne ought to be a wine of terroir.”
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