Laherte Frères

Founded in 1889 by Jean-Baptiste Laherte in Chavot-Courcourt, Champagne Laherte Frères spans around 13 hectares across 11 villages, mainly in the Côteaux Sud d’Épernay, Vertus, the Vallée de la Marne, and Bouzy Grand Cru. Today, the seventh-generation winemaker, Aurélien Laherte, leads the estate. Having returned in 2005 to take over from his father, he continues the family legacy of crafting pure, expressive champagnes that reflect the diversity and depth of their terroirs.

The estate’s oldest vines, planted as far back as 1947 by Aurélien’s grandparents, form part of a mosaic of soils that lie at the crossroads of three major Champagne regions. Aurélien, first and foremost a man of the vineyard, has spent years understanding the complexity of this land, guided by humility, precision, and respect for nature.

Laherte Frères practices natural, dynamic farming, with massal selection, plot-by-plot vinification, and minimal intervention. Two traditional Coquard presses of 4,000 kg each allow grapes to be pressed immediately after harvest, because, as Aurélien says, “the press should wait for the grapes, not the other way around.” All juices are separated by parcel, grape variety, and village, resulting in nearly 70 distinct base wines handled entirely by gravity.

Eighty percent of the wines are fermented and aged in old oak barrels, foudres, or vats, a tradition reintroduced by Aurélien’s father in the 1980s and 1990s. Malolactic fermentation is not systematic and depends on the vintage, ensuring balance and freshness. Working with all seven champagne grape varieties, Aurélien celebrates diversity, even producing a rare cuvée that blends all seven.

The estate’s Blanc de Blancs cuvée epitomizes this philosophy, sourced from 25 mid-slope Chardonnay parcels where clay rests on pure chalk. The vines, aged 30 to 60 years, yield wines that age on lees between 18 and 36 months, followed by at least six months in bottle. The result is a Champagne of crystalline purity, salinity, and vibrant, iodine freshness, a true reflection of its land.