Champagne Lelarge-Pugeot NV Les Meuniers de Clémence Extra Brut

The seventh and eighth generations of the Lelarge family work together in Vrigny, a Premier Cru village west of Reims. The family traces its vineyard line to 1799, while the present name dates from the marriage of Dominique Lelarge and Dominique Pugeot and their later stewardship of the estate. Meunier occupies just over half of the 8.7 hectares; Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fill out the plantings on Vrigny’s sandy, clay-limestone soils. After years of reducing herbicides and insecticides, the estate received Ecocert organic certification in 2015; Demeter recognition followed two years later. In the cellar, fermentations begin with indigenous yeasts, with small additions of sulphur only when needed.