2016 Larmandier-Bernier Les Chemins d'Avize Grand Cru Extra Brut, Champagne

The 2016 Blanc de Blancs Les Chemins d'Avize, disgorged in April 2024 with a dosage of two grams per liter, is a particular success. Hailing from Le Chemin de Flavigny and Le Chemin de Plivot, located in a flat part of Avize at the bottom of the slope, these are some of the last plots to be harvested, as the fruit ripens more slowly here. Vinified in 20-hectoliter Stockinger vat and barrels of various sizes, it was matured on its lees for 10 months. Informed by the concentration of 50-year-old vines, lower-than-average yields due to mildew pressure and a late-ripening season, it opens from the glass with aromas of marzipan, baked bread, lemon zest and beeswax. Elegantly muscular and vividly chalky, it’s layered and harmonious, underpinned by bright acidity, leading to a precise, long-lasting finish. A more tense, higher-acid version than 2015, it has more in common with the personality of the 2013 vintage.

96 points robertparker.com

The 2016 Extra Brut Les Chemins d'Avize Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru is a very pretty, exotic Champagne. White flowers, mint, chalk, white pepper and crushed rocks are finely sculpted. Low dosage of 2 grams per liter adds notable tension and verve throughout This savory, super-excessive Champagne will be a fine companion at the dinner table.

94 points vinous.com

The Larmandier-Bernier Les Chemins d’Avize Grand Cru Extra Brut is one of the most precise and terroir-expressive Champagnes from this highly respected grower-producer. Based in the Côte des Blancs, Larmandier-Bernier has built its reputation on biodynamic farming, long lees ageing and minimal intervention in the cellar, producing Champagnes that are both powerful and mineral-driven. Les Chemins d’Avize is a single-vineyard Chardonnay from grand cru sites in Avize, planted on pure chalk soils that give the wine its signature tension and salinity.

In the glass it shows a pale golden colour with an exceptionally fine bead. The bouquet is pure and layered, with aromas of lemon zest, white peach and pear interwoven with chalk, toasted hazelnut, brioche and delicate florals. On the palate it is precise and textural, with citrus and orchard fruit flavours balanced by vibrant acidity and a profound mineral backbone. Subtle savoury and saline notes carry through a long, elegant finish, making it both cerebral and immensely pleasurable.

Food pairings highlight its elegance and intensity: freshly shucked oysters, caviar, seared scallops, or a simple Dover sole with lemon butter. It also pairs beautifully with aged goat’s cheese or creamy cheeses like Brillat-Savarin. With 12 to 15 years of cellaring potential, it will evolve into a more complex and layered Champagne, developing honeyed and nutty dimensions while retaining chalky freshness