Tasting and Pairing Notes for the Les Empreintes Extra Brut 2019 by Laherte Frères

Tasting

/Color/

The Les Empreintes Extra Brut 2019 displays a bright pale gold color, enlivened by a fine and persistent stream of bubbles that hints at the wine's lees aging and careful vinification.

/Nose/

The nose opens on ripe stone fruit and citrus zest, layered with dried flowers and delicate spice notes. Subtle toasted and brioche-like nuances, brought by the lees aging in oak, add further complexity to this aromatic profile.

/Palate/

On the palate, this Champagne reveals a generous, wine-like texture balanced by a strikingly incisive acidity, a direct result of the absence of malolactic fermentation. The chalky, saline minerality typical of the Chavot terroir runs through the entire palate, while flavors of stone fruit, citrus and lightly toasted notes unfold toward a long, precise finish.

Food and wine pairings

Les Empreintes Extra Brut 2019 is a gastronomic Champagne, particularly well suited to seafood and fish dishes, where its tension and saline character bring brightness and lift to the pairing.

Serving and cellaring

The Les Empreintes Extra Brut 2019 is best served at a temperature of around 46-50°F (8-10°C). Thanks to its structure and the quality of its two parcels, this cuvée is also built for aging, with the potential to evolve favorably over roughly ten years.

Other characteristics

This cuvée carries a very low dosage, around 2 to 3 grams per liter depending on the disgorgement, placing it at the boundary between Extra Brut and Brut Nature. The alcohol content is approximately 12 to 12.5% by volume. No malolactic fermentation is carried out, and the wine is left unfiltered prior to bottling, preserving its natural texture and complexity.

A village Champagne from Chavot, shaped by the duality of two historic parcels

/The Estate/

Founded in 1889 by Jean-Baptiste Laherte, Laherte Frères is a family-owned Champagne house based in Chavot, on the Coteaux Sud d'Épernay. Today led by Thierry Laherte and his son Aurélien, who represents the seventh generation, the estate farms a little over eleven hectares across the Coteaux Sud d'Épernay, the Côte des Blancs and the Vallée de la Marne, largely following organic and biodynamic principles. Laherte Frères is recognized as one of the most distinctive growers of the Champagne de vignerons movement, known for parcel-by-parcel vinification and a philosophy centered on purity and terroir expression.

/The Vineyard/

Les Empreintes Extra Brut 2019 originates from two emblematic parcels located in the village of Chavot, within the Coteaux Sud d'Épernay region of Champagne. Les Chemins d'Épernay, planted in 1957, provides the chardonnay portion from a clay soil with a thin layer of surface silt over a chalky subsoil. Les Rouges Maisons, planted in 1983, supplies the pinot noir from a deeper soil rich in clay, flint and schist, resting on a hard chalk base. This contrast between the two parcels underpins the dual expression sought in this cuvée.

/The Vintage/

The 2019 vintage allowed for grapes to reach full ripeness, giving the wine the maturity, juice and flesh needed to carry a very low dosage without appearing thin. This balance of ripeness and freshness contributed to a vintage considered particularly successful for this cuvée.

/Winemaking and aging/

For Les Empreintes Extra Brut 2019, grapes are harvested by hand and pressed traditionally, with each variety fermented separately in oak barrels using indigenous yeasts. No malolactic fermentation is carried out, preserving a sharp, vibrant acidity. The wine is aged on its fine lees in barrel before blending, then bottled for the second fermentation and aged further on lees prior to a hand disgorgement, with a very low dosage applied.

/Grape Varieties/

This cuvée is an equal blend of 50% chardonnay, including a notable proportion of an aromatic massale selection known as "muscaté" chardonnay, and 50% pinot noir.