93 points Vinous Media

The 2020 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Grandes Crayères 1er Cru is terrific. Bright and finely cut, the 2020 possesses notable energy to play off its understated, mid-weight personality. A kiss of French oak rounds out the contours nicely. Lemon confit, marzipan, dried flowers and spice emerge over time. Although I tend to avoid such comparisons, the Crayères bears a striking resemblance to the Chardonnays of another region in France. Dosage is 2 grams per liter. Disgorged: November 2023.

The Laherte family, now in its seventh generation under Aurélien Laherte, has built a reputation for producing some of Champagne’s most terroir-driven wines. Les Grandes Crayères comes from a single lieu-dit in Chavot, south of Épernay, planted exclusively to Chardonnay in 1983. The site sits on deep, chalky subsoils with a thin layer of clay and sand on top, giving the wine both tension and depth—an ideal expression of the Côteaux Sud d’Épernay’s limestone-rich terroir.