Champagne Laherte Freres Petit Meslier NV

Limited release. 2019 base, disgorged April 2022. Petit Meslier has formed an integral part of Aurélien Laherte’s cuvée Les 7 for almost 20 vintages. One of Champagne’s heirloom varieties, Meslier is a historic cross between Gouais Blanc and Savagnin, and although it has been largely forgotten in Champagne, the Laherte family has remained attached to the grape’s personality and its ability to maintain acidity, even in warmer vintages.

Between 2014 and 2018, Laherte established a mid-slope vineyard on Chavot’s clay-limestone soils, using masssale cuttings from the domaine’s oldest Meslier vines. This wine marks the second release of this exciting project. The grapes went to Laherte’s antique Coquard press, and the juice flowed into old barrel by gravity. A wild ferment was followed by malolactic fermentation and the wine was aged for six months on lees in barrel and then sur lattes. It’s based on the 2019 vintage with 40% reserve wines, and it was disgorged by hand with just two grams per litre dosage (extra brut).