Champagne Friday: Larmat Atlas of Champagne

By: Gary Westby | K&L Champagne Buyer

Larmat Atlas of Champagne

Good maps of the vineyards in Champagne are almost impossible to come by. While almost every other great wine region of the world actively promotes the distribution of maps, Champagne, by contrast, is downright secretive. Some of the best vineyard-specific cartography of the region was printed in tiny runs in 1944 by the Larmat Company in Paris. They were commissioned by a number of the big houses (I have also seen the Roederer and Mumm versions) and I was able to acquire one of the Moet editions.

Benoit Marguet searched auctions in the Champagne region for 10 years on my behalf in order to find this copy. The Larmat Atlas that he found is one of only 500 printed by Moet and is in the best shape of any that I have seen. After receiving it, I contacted Moet for permission to post them here. They agreed, but asked me to explain that the vineyards marked as owned by them on these maps from 1944 do not reflect the current state of affairs. Over the last 68 years new plots have been bought, some old ones sold and other traded.

And finally, here are links to the seven maps and one sales chart from the original Larmat. These are very large PDF’s, so it might take a little while to load them. As I showed in the video, I had theses printed out in full size on laminated Styrofoam board. I hope some of you will also print them out, mine turned out great!

Click here for the full map of Champagne

Click here for the Montagne de Reims including vineyard sites

Click here for the Grand Valley of the Marne including vineyard sites

Click here for the Cote des Blancs including vineyard sites

Click here for the Western part of the Mountain of Reims

Click here for the Western part of the Marne and the Aisne

Click here for the Aube

Click here for the 1844-1944 sales chart

Enjoy the maps! A toast to you!

-Gary

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Champagne Friday: K&L Holiday Grand Champagne Tastings

By: Gary Westby | K&L Champagne Buyer

Please join us on Saturday, December 8th for our annual Holiday Grand Champagne Tastings, taking place in all three K&L locations. If you missed the tent event, now is your opportunity to catch up! The cost for each tasting is $40 and will include top highlights from the tent event of grower-produced and grand marque Champagnes that also make perfect options for holiday gift-giving and entertaining.

Tickets must be purchased in advance, and attendance is limited. These events will sell out, so be sure to grab your tickets now before they are gone!

Here is a sneak peak of the lineup, to be poured in each store:

NV Krug "Grande Cuvee" Brut-$139.00

 
NV Ariston "Cepages d"Antan Brut"-$99.00

NV Laurent Perrier "Grand Siecle"-$109.00

 
2002 Pierre Paillard Grand Cru Brut Vintage-$59.99

2004 Perrier Jouet "Belle Epoque" Brut-$99.00

2005 Louis Roederer "Cristal" Brut-$189.00 

Links to Purchase Tickets:

December 8: Grand Champagne Tasting-Redwood City-1 p.m. to 4 p.m.-$40 

Purchase Tickets here!  

December 8: Grand Champagne Tasting-Hollywood-3 p.m. to 6 p.m. -$40

Purchase Tickets here!  

December 8: Grand Champagne Tasting, San Francisco-12 noon to 3 pm.-$40 

Purchase tickets here!  

We hope to see you there!

-Gary

Champagne Friday: It's International Champagne Day!

Benoit Marguet inspecting one of his magnums.

By: Gary Westby | K&L Champagne Buyer

Today is International Champagne Day, so it is a very special Champagne Friday. Later today, I will be in the San Francisco store pouring a tasting of all magnum, all estate-grown Champagnes from 5pm until 6:30 PM. Please join me to celebrate International Champagne Day in SF  if you can! Even if you can’t come, you can still do your part and drink some Champagne today.

Why magnums? I believe the best premium that one can pay in regards to Champagne is the upgrade to a magnum (1.5L) format. Whenever there are enough people to drink two bottles of Champagne- at my house that means three people- I consider a magnum. Since Champagne undergoes its second fermentation in the bottle, a magnum is at a tremendous advantage: not only does it enjoy double the wine to oxygen ratio in the larger bottle, but the curve of the glass allows for more contact with the yeast before disgorgement. This means you get more of the aged character that you do want (contact with the lees) and less of the ageing you don’t want (contact with oxygen).

I hope you can join me this evening in San Fransisco. The cost to taste is only $10! Here's what I will be pouring:

If you have enjoyed the wines of Lallement, Bollinger and Krug in the past, I think you will very much enjoy Michel Arnould.

Bruno Michel "Blanche Brut" Champagne $32.99/ $$79.99 magnum

Marguet Pere et Fils "Cuvée Reserve" Brut Champagne $34.99 / $74.99 magnum

2002 Michel Loriot Vintage Brut Champagne 1.5L $99 (magnum only)

Ariston Aspasie "Brut Prestige" Champagne $39.99/ $84.99

Michel Arnould Verzenay "Brut Reserve" Champagne $32.99/ $64.99 magnum

Michel Arnould Verzenay Brut Rosé Champagne $34.99/ $74.99 magnum

A toast to you, hopefully with you!

–Gary