- Over 65-year-old Chardonnay vines vinified like a Domaine Leflaive Burgundy.
- One of the five best Barrique Blanc de Blancs.
Pierre Larmandier's best plots in Avize are called Chemin de Flavigny and Chemin de Plivot. They were planted in the late 1950s, produce very small yields and are extremely deep-rooted. The first vintage in which this champagne was bottled separately was 2009. The barren belemnite limestone gives the wines a firm structure and mineral intensity. Chemins d'Avize has a playful elegance, spiced here with a refined oak flavour. The mineral, firm Avize style takes on a richness here that is reminiscent of Selosse.
The base wines are fermented with natural yeasts and mature until summer after the harvest in barrels and casks made of Austrian oak from the Stockinger company. The wines are neither filtered nor fined. The yeast storage period is at least six years, in this case seven. After disgorging, the bottles are stored for another year before being released onto the market.
Chemins d'Avize is one of those exciting champagnes that Larmandier-Bernier has accustomed us to. It displays a complexity, depth, elegance, pronounced minerality and refinement that is not often found in a bottle of champagne.
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