Laurent Lequart L'Heritiere Extra Brut Champagne

D&M NOTES (MK):

TASTING: The nose shows marzipan, baked apple, yellow fleshed stone fruits, sage, and red apple peels. The palate has some presence to it with an up front spice note with delicate acidity and a flavor set of apple tart. Drink in the near term. 

COMPOSITION: The L'Heritiere cuvee is mostly from 2012 with 40% from 2011 and 2010. It is made of 40% Pinot Meunier, 40% Pinot Noir, and 20% Chardonnay. It was fermented spontaneously in Stainless Steel and rested for a year before spending 30 months on its lees, and finally disgorged with a dosage of 6 grams per liter. 

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: This hails from the small Marne Valley town of Passy-Grigny. Laurent represents the fourth generation of grapegrowers, but is only the second to make Champagne himself. His father Claude decided to break his long term contract with the houses in the 1980s while Laurent was attending schooling in Avize for Champagne Production. In 1987 Laurent launched his own brand with the 27 acres that he received from his father. While not farmed organically, the domaine has been moving in that direction and was granted a HVE or High Environmental Value designation in 2019. As mentioned above, the domaine is located in Passy Grigny, which happens to be home to one of the better co-operatives in Champagne. We bring this up because the president of the Cooperative is none other than Laurent Lequart. French labeling laws are quite strict and leave little room for exceptional cases, so as this wine was pressed at a shared facility, it has to be labeled RC (Récoltant-Co-opérateur).