Champagne Laherte Frères Meslier et Pinot NV (6 Bottles) Champagne, France

Petit Meslier and Pinot Noir. Disgorged November 2022. Aurélien Laherte is a passionate champion of Champagne’s heirloom grape varieties. His Les 7 parcel (which includes all seven of Champagne’s permitted grapes) was planted in 2003, and things have snowballed since.

As a result of this planting, Laherte has developed a strong passion for the potential of Petit Meslier, and in 2013, he planted a small parcel in Chavot using mass-selection cuttings. Between 2018 and 2023, he planted a further 1.7 hectares of Meslier, which will eventually cover 10% of the estate’s plantings.

Aurélien Laherte is showcasing some of the most exciting winemaking in Champagne today, and this is a good example. Based on the 2019 vintage, this experimental skin contact/rosé is a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Petit Meslier from two plots in Chavot on clay-silt soils. Following a 12-hour maceration, the grapes naturally fermented in a single, neutral barrel. The wine aged on lees in bottle for 30 months before disgorgement in November 2022, with no dosage. We would love to see what the establishment suits in Épernay and Reims would make of this. This is not strait-laced Champagne for the faint of heart, but a wild roller-coaster ride from the beating heart of the grower movement. Only 669 bottles were made.

“The NV Brut Nature Meslier & Pinot is a wild, eccentric wine. Dried flowers, ginger, spice, mint and sweet floral accents are all beautifully lifted. An equal blend of Petit Meslier and Pinot Noir, bright Meslier acids pull it all together here. This stylish Champagne is a winner. Zero dosage.” 93 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous