The cellars of Champagne Guy Larmandier are located in the village of Vertus at the southern base of the Cote des Blancs. This estate owns 9 hectares of vineyards, all located within the Cote des Blancs and distributed amongst the Grand Cru rated villages of Chouilly and Cramant and the 1er Cru rated vineyards of Vertus and Cuis. We have worked with Guy Larmandier and his wife and children since 1982.
Guy Larmandier established this domaine which, following his death, is now supervised by his wife, Colette, and their two children, Francois and Marie-Helene. Annual production is on the order of 90,000 bottles. Harvest is conducted manually, the Champagnes are aged a minimum of 36 months on the lees and the Champagnes destined for the US market are disgorged on order and receive a minimal dosage so as to emphasize the purity and finesse of this special terroir.
Farming
Lutte Raisonnée
Treatments
Synthetic Treatments when necessary
Ploughing
Occasional ploughing to maintain vineyard health
Soils
Limestone chalk typical to the Côte des Blancs
Vines
Trained in Guyot and planted at 7,500 vines/ha. Average vine age is 40 years
Yields
Controlled through winter pruning, debudding, and green harvesting
Harvest
Exclusively manual, usually mid-September
purchasing
Entirely estate fruit
Fermentation
Wines ferment with selected yeast in stainless-steel tanks
Extraction
Bâtonnage only to counter reduction
Chaptalization
None
Pressing
4000-kg vertical basket press
Malolactic Fermentation
Spontaneous, following alcoholic fermentation
Élevage
Wines age 6 months in stainless-steel tanks
Lees
Most wines spend 2-3 years sur lattes. Cuvée signé François spends 5 years sur lattes
Dosage
Maximum dosage is 3 g/l
Fining and Filtration
Unfined and filtered with diatomaceous earth
Sulfur
Total sulfur 50-60 mg/l
