We recently announced that Louis/Dressner Selections is now the national importer for Larmandier-Bernier Champagne in Vertus. We worked with Sophie and Pierre Larmandier years ago, starting at the same time they began working with the new Terry Theise Champagne book.

We were drawn to them years ago because they have great sites, make wine from natural yeasts, work their land organically, plough their fields, keep yields low and work at low or no dosage. It's not that we believe in Grower Champagne as a category. 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. Recently they grew tired of being grouped in a Grower Champagne category with colleagues who don't really work any differently than the larger houses, even though their American trading partners are honest and hard working. 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.

Please take a look at their excellent web site – www.larmandier.com

Sophie and Pierre explain on this site the elements which make a great Champagne, the elements basic to all wines:

Creating a great Champagne, as any other wine, begins in the vineyards. The recipe of a good grape is simple but demanding : old vines, cultivated soils, low yields, a vine that survives upon itself without fertilizers and hand picking at optimum maturity….

The average age of vines is 33 years. The vineyard is cultivated with the forgotten techniques that respect the Terroir: we plough the earth to ensure the roots grow deep into the chalk and to preserve life in the soil….

At Larmandier-Bernier's, each harvest, each vat, each cask, each barrel has its own life and its own yeasts. Each year is a new start because the yeasts change with the crus, the exposures but also the climate during the year… At Larmandier-Bernier's, the wild yeasts are not an estate selection re-used each year. And it is not either the first vat to start fermentation that is spread in the others vats….

The vineyards in Vertus

Is it necessary to make a good wine? No. Is it necessary to make a great wine? Yes.

Larmandier-Bernier Cuvées Larmandier-Bernier wines will excite all our supporters who love real, natural wine. There are only a handful producers who work this way in Champagne and we are delighted to be working again with the Larmandier.