Larmandier-Bernier Les Chemins d'Avize Grand Cru Extra Brut, Champagne, France 2017

A rare, single vineyard Blanc de Blancs from one of the Côte des Blancs’ most respected grower Champagne houses. Les Chemins d’Avize comes from two parcels of old Chardonnay vines in the heart of Avize, where chalk lies close to the surface, delivering extraordinary minerality and precision. The 2017 vintage offers a refined bouquet of citrus, white flowers and orchard fruit, unfolding into notes of toasted almond, fresh pastry and saline chalk. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in wood, this Champagne combines depth and texture with remarkable energy, elegance and a long, crystalline finish. With just 2 g/L dosage, it is an exceptionally pure expression of Grand Cru Chardonnay. An essential bottle for serious Champagne collectors.

" From a site planted between the 1950s and 1960s on shallow soils and harvested on September 4, the 2017 Blanc de Blancs Les Chemins d'Avize is a darker, more brooding rendition of this cuvée, opening in the glass with aromas of lemon confit and dried flowers mingled with notes of rye bread and Alpine honey. On the palate, it is full-bodied, deep and immensely concentrated, with a charming profile and a generous core of fruit, supported by vibrant acidity and concluding with a long, chalky finish. It is a slightly more precocious rendition that will drink beautifully on release while one awaits the more tightly knit 2016 to unfold." Wine Advocate 95