Base 2021, Disg. April 2024. Latitude is 100% Côte des Blancs Chardonnay from vineyards on the southern side of Vertus. These vineyards are on roughly the same latitude, hence the name, which also hints at the breadth of texture that wines from these sites—having more clay in the soil—tend to offer. In the cellar, Larmandier uses mostly large casks (almost all the wood now comes from Stockinger in Austria). Fermentation and malolactic fermentation take place naturally, and there is no filtration. Latitude matures in bottle for more than two years before disgorgement and dosage at low, extra-brut levels (in this case, 3 g/L) at least six months before release. This bottling is based on the 2021 vintage, with 40% reserve wine drawn from a ‘perpetual’ reserve started in 2004. Upcoming releases will include fruit from some terrific vineyards in Villeneuve and Bergères, which will only further buttress the quality.