TN: Laherte Frères Champagne Les 7 Extra Brut

Lots of very positive reviews, but I was a little underwhelmed. This has all the makings of an exciting bottle of Champagne- 7 (!) types of grapes, a solera, very limited production, well regarded grower producer… The best part of this wine is the label, which includes incredible details: all 7 varietals, disgorgement date (Jan 2020), vintages included ('05-'16), number of bottles produced (3329), dosage (2-4g/L).

I had high expectations, but the experience was just meh. The flavors are nice, skews more towards the apple/pear end of the fruit spectrum, a little bit of yeastiness, decent acidity, a detectable complexity from inclusion of older vintages. This was a round, gentle expression of Champagne as opposed to bright and vibrant, with all the makings of a proper wine. But I found everything muted- the nose was not very potent, the flavors were kind of dilute, the body a bit flabby. Giving the wine air just muted things even more. I saved half the bottle in the fridge, and it was quite a bit worse the next day. I wanted to love this, but I just didn’t. Oh well…at least now I can say I’ve tried all 7 Champagne grapes.