Laherte Freres Champagne Empreintes 2019 750ml

The 2019 Extra-Brut Les Empreintes, disgorged in December 2024 with two grams per liter dosage, is a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir from the north-facing Les Rouges Maisons and Chardonnay from the west-facing Les Chemins d’Épernay, incorporating up to 25% muscaté Chardonnay. It reveals scents of pear, lemon zest and peach, mingling with dried flowers. On the palate, it is medium to full-bodied, ample and textural, with a rich yet vibrant core of fruit upheld by a spine of incisive acidity. It finishes long and citrus-inflected, retaining a bright, tension-filled profile due to its vinification without malolactic fermentation.

• Country: France
• Region: Champagne
• Size: 750ml

Varietal

Champagne Blend

The sparkling wines of Champagne have been revered by wine drinkers for hundreds of years, and even today they maintain their reputation for excellence of flavor and character, and are consistently associated with quality, decadence, and a cause for celebration. Their unique characteristics are partly due to the careful blending of a small number of selected grape varietals, most commonly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes, blended in fairly equal quantities, give the wines of Champagne their wonderful flavors and aromas, with the Pinot Noir offering length and backbone, and the Chardonnay varietal giving its acidity and dry, biscuity nature. It isn’t unusual to sometimes see Champagne labeled as ‘blanc de blanc’, meaning it is made using only Chardonnay varietal grapes, or ‘blanc de noir’, which is made solely with Pinot Noir.