Waris-Larmandier, Lieu-dit 'Les Bauves' 2014 - 75cl

Around 1,100 bottles came out of this parcel. Les Bauves sits in Cramant, roughly half a hectare of pure chalk at 115 metres, planted in three goes — 1962, then 1986, then 1998, one generation of the family at a time. Waris-Larmandier live and cellar in Avize, the next village down the slope, which is why this wine sometimes gets filed under Avize by mistake. The fruit is Cramant, Grand Cru, and it tastes like it.

Marie-Hélène Larmandier and Vincent Waris founded the estate in 1989 and their children run it now, with Jean-Philippe on the vines. Conversion to biodynamics began in 2009; Demeter certification came in 2020. Grapes go through a Coquard press and only the free-run juice from the first pressing is kept for this. Spontaneous ferment, no fining, no dosage, and the bottle is sealed at a gentler 4.5 bar instead of the usual six — the old perlé style. Seven years sur lattes, then hand disgorgement in May 2023.

Cramant chardonnay leans towards breadth and cream. 2014 was a cool, tense year. You get both. Hazelnut skin and white peach on the nose. Then chalk dust that reads almost as salt. The mousse is barely a mousse — more texture than fizz, which is exactly what the low bottling pressure is for. With no dosage the finish arrives stark and stays for a long time.

How to Serve

10–12°C, no colder. A flute wastes this. Use a broad white-wine glass, pour small measures, and pay attention — it moves a lot over an hour. Ease the cork out slowly; corks on bottles this age can be fragile.

Where to Drink It

Scott's in Mayfair, at the counter, with a dozen natives. J Sheekey when you want the room as much as the fish. The Connaught Bar, late, after everything else has finished.

Food Pairings

Turbot on the bone with butter and lemon and nothing else. That is what I would do with it. The wine's salinity and the fish's natural sweetness lock together, and the zero dosage stops the butter from making the whole plate heavy.