CHAMPAGNE

Guy Larmandier is a small artisan grower based in the southern Côte des Blancs village of Vertus that was discovered by famed wine importer Neal Rosenthal back in the early 1980s. Despite this long association and decades of consistently high quality, the firm remains something of an “insider’s secret” with an under-the-radar media profile. “Signe Francois” the firm’s tête de cuvée has earned the top spot on our best Champs of the year list because it masterfully exudes the depth, breadth and balance that one associates with the elite Champagnes of the stellar 2008 vintage-- all at a price that is shockingly low. Neal Rosenthal writes: “[This] is produced from their oldest parcels of Chardonnay in the grand cru village of Cramant (along with a small amount of fruit from a holding in the Grand Cru Chouilly), and it spends a full five years on the lees before disgorgement. No dosage is present in our version of the 2008, but one would never even know it is missing--the wine’s depth and richness is extraordinary, voicing the sappy and dense character of the fruit François wrests from these old vines. Notes of pear tart, fresh figs, baked apples, and cherries frame a vibrant, expansive palate, and the wine’s chalky core shows itself in a clinging, almost salty finish." Bravo!

IMPORTER NEAL ROSENTHAL NOTES - "Larmandier’s prestige cuvée is produced from their oldest parcels of Chardonnay in the grand cru village of Cramant (along with a small amount of fruit from a holding in the Grand Cru Chouilly), and it spends a full five years on the lees before disgorgement. No dosage is present in our version of the 2008, but one would never even know it is missing--the wine’s depth and richness is extraordinary, voicing the sappy and dense character of the fruit François wrests from these old vines. Notes of pear tart, fresh figs, baked apples, and cherries frame a vibrant, expansive palate, and the wine’s chalky core shows itself in a clinging, almost salty finish."