Larmandier-Bernier

Some moments in the history of the estate

Working the vine has been recorded in the family histories of the LARMANDIERS and the BERNIERS since the French Revolution. The LARMANDIERS contributed to the renown of the Côte de Blancs with their famous 'Cramant Blanc de Blancs Nature'.

From the beginning of the 20th century, the LARMANDIERS made Champagnes which very quickly proved their fine qualities. Thus Jules Larmandier and then his son, Philippe Allyre, began to supply the great Parisian restaurants (la Tour d'Argent, Taillevent, Charlot Roi des Coquillages, …).

In 1971, Philippe Larmandier, the grandson of Jules, created with his wife, Elisabeth Bernier, who owned vineyards in Vertus, LARMANDIER-BERNIER Champagne. Upon the death of her husband in 1982, Elisabeth managed the family estate and developed the sales, particularly in Belgium and Switzerland. In 1988, Pierre, the son of Philippe and Elisabeth, who had just graduated from Nantes Business School, decided to return to the job "which flowed in his veins".

Questioning established practices

In 1992, after several enriching encounters with French winegrowers and many conferences and training courses, Pierre began to bring back to life Larmandier-Bernier's different terroirs by working the soil and abandoning the use of weed-killers. And now, since 1999, the estate has been cultivated biodynamically and fermentation has been allowed to take place thanks to the natural yeast of each terroir. Why has there been such an evolution? Some will say that it's the latest trend, that it's fashionable... 

For the Larmandier-Bernier family, it's more than that. Quite simply, it's self-evident: true, it's not enough to cultivate vines biodynamically in order to make great wine, - the terroir and the winegrower are also very important – but this practice is gradually asserting itself as a necessity.

Moreover, Pierre noticed that the chemical techniques used today consist in responding to each disease with a specific product. This sort of logic endangers the overall balance of the plant with its so-called 'targeted' aggressions but which are more powerful from one year to the next. He just wants to restore a natural balance between the diseases and the natural defences of each of his vineyards. His approach consists in endeavouring to understand every aspect of the vine...

Helping each terroir to express itself

Pierre is striving to refine still further his work in the cellar in order to bring the grapes to the glass in the best possible way, by putting the originality of each terroir first.

In 2002, he bought about ten acres of vines in Vertus. Ten acres in Vertus is already exceptional, but what is perhaps unique in Champagne is the fact that these vines have never known any weed-killer, nor any processed household refuse. The soil is and always has been ploughed. The previous owner, who was taking retirement, knew that the vines would continue to be ploughed.

The estate was awarded one, and then two stars in the guide 'Classement des Meilleurs Vins de France'. Pierre Larmandier was selected by the 'Revue des Vins de France' as 'most promising figure for wine 2002' and 'winegrower of the year 2003' by Bernard Burtschy of GaultMillau. In 'The New France', Andrew Jefford considered that "few winegrowers in Champagne have such an impressive range of Champagnes".

The press, many professionals and wine-lovers appreciate the Champagnes of Larmandier-Bernier: all of these encouraging signs allow us to think the 'story continues'...

It is not for reasons of tradition that our approach to viticulture is completely natural; it is just because it makes sense. The creation of a great Champagne, like the creation of any great wine, begins in the vineyard. Indeed, it is the grapes that contain the qualities and the authenticity that no man could ever invent.

The recipe for good-quality grapes is simple but demanding: old vines, working the soil, moderate yields; vines which thrive without having fertilisers forced into them, and mature grapes picked by hand.

We have not chosen the easy path of current methods, but the far more rewarding course of cultivating the vine intelligently. Striving for wines which express their terroir in a natural way...

Our vineyard - about fifteen hectares, 33 years old on average – lies on the terroirs of the Côte des Blancs: Vertus, a premier cru village, Cramant, Chouilly, Oger and Avize, all grand cru villages.

We are fortunate enough to work on superb terroirs; it would be a shame if we didn't "bring them to your glass".

But the terroir is not enough; it is to wine what the score is to music. What's the point if the grape variety, the vineplant (the instrument) and the winegrower (the performer) are not up to standard?

Consequently, our vines are cultivated with respect for the terroir (ploughing, which favours deep-reaching roots and preserves the life of the soil) and respect for the balances of the plant throughout the growing period. In this way, the yields are naturally moderate and the wine shows its appreciation, through both its structure and its maturity.

Our vineyard is planted with 85% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Noir. The grapes are harvested manually.

The grapes, picked by hand, are placed in our bladder press. We take time to press gently, so as to extract the purest juice possible. Each cru is vinified separately. For fermenting and maturing, we strive to choose the ideal correspondence between the terroir and the vessel used: temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, traditional vats, wooden vats or casks.

The alcoholic fermentation begins spontaneously thanks to the natural yeast present on the bloom of the grapes. The wines are matured on their lees throughout the winter: malolactic fermentation, a light bâtonnage (stirring) depending on the cuvée and the year.

In the spring, after many tastings, we decide on the blending (or we decide not to blend for the cuvées coming from a single vineyard like 'Terre de Vertus' or 'Vieille Vigne de Cramant'). The wines are bottled in May and taken down into the coolness of our cellars where the second fermentation can take place peacefully.

Ageing: our bottles wait patiently and mature for several years in our cellars dug out of the chalk (the temperature there is practically constant throughout the year).

When the wines are ready, they are riddled. Next, we disgorge each bottle by hand three to six months before putting it on the market. The dosage which is then chosen depends on the cuvée. For us, it must be discreet, as our priority is always the same: to allow the terroir to express itself.

For details of the particularities of each cuvée, please refer to the corresponding page, particularly for the 'Vertus Rouge'.

Details about the natural yeast

At Larmandier-Bernier, for each harvest, each vat, traditional or wooden, each cask has its own existence, with its own yeast. Every year, the cards are reshuffled as the yeast is different and depends on the cru, on the topography, but also on the year's weather.

To achieve this, our behaviour in the vineyard must leave room for life, so that the yeast is perfectly suited to the vintage and the terroir. At Larmandier-Bernier, the natural yeast is not a selection of estate yeast used again each year; nor is it the first vat to begin its fermentation which is spread around to all the other vats.

Why do we use the natural yeast of our terroir? Is it indispensable in order to make good wine? No. Is it indispensable in order to make great wine? Yes, if you believe that the notion of 'great wine' is necessarily tied to that of 'great terroir', and that the yeast is an essential element of the terroir...

Does the presence of life really disturb people?

The way we have of living our work has never been accepted by everyone; we used to be considered as harmless dreamers, so people left us alone. Today, given the dead end which faces 'modern' viticulture and the success enjoyed by 'singular' wines, our approach, which is certainly a little elitist, disturbs people.

It disturbs those who do not grasp in its entirety our way of working and its ultimate objective: the sincere and original expression of our terroir through wines of authenticity. Our neighbours and the village officials, for example, point the finger at us because of the grass or the rabbits in our vines. Does the presence of life really disturb people?

What they want is 'clean' vineyards, without grass, without life… They will not tolerate earth or grass on the roads in the vineyards (the reign of tarmac to carry the polluted water which will no longer seep into the ground). They mow our embankments without warning us when this high grass is the last place of refuge for the fauna and flora.

The articles which denounce the dangers of natural yeast in the Champagne region's technical review are another example. Indeed, commercial yeast is essential when making Champagnes in a controlled and standardised fashion from grapes produced by chemical viticulture. Let us recognise that another way exists, no doubt more demanding and more difficult, but which is possible if we wish to make Champagnes with more distinctive, more genuine styles.

We do not try to impose our methods on others; we just want to do right, to do well. We claim our right to this difference, to make something different from those standardised wines, without wishing to be marginalised.

We want to continue to live our life (our viticulture), without trying to convert others, and simply be examples among all the others. We don't want to tell others what to do, but we do want to maintain our freedom in our viticultural and oenological decisions.

We share this feeling with other winegrowers throughout France. To make ourselves heard and to safeguard this viticulture, it is necessary for this handful of winegrowers to have a national dimension in order to get their message across. That is why we created the SEVE association, whose manifesto you will find here(not translated yet) on this website, or which we can send to you on request.