Laurent-Perrier Alexandra Rose 2004 Champagne 75cl

From the experts of rosé champagne, Laurent-Perrier Alexandra Rosé is a rare and cherished wine resulting from a rigorous selection of the very best plots in the region. This unique prestige cuvée rosé is only created in years when the Grand Cru grapes of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay reach maturity at the same time. The pioneering soak-on-the-skins maceration process applied to Cuvée Rosé is utilised again, with 20% Chardonnay being added during the Pinot Noir maceration for Alexandra Rosé. To do full justice to its rarity, Alexandra Rosé is presented in a majestically refined bottle with a label decorated in powdered gold.

Laurent-Perrier Alexandra Rosé 2004 marks the seventh vintage release since the launch of Alexandra Rosé 1982 in 1987 and is the first vintage in which magnums have been produced.

Weather: The 2004 vintage saw an initial winter of mild temperatures with intermittent storms and hail. The spring and summer months were hot and sunny and the sugar levels late in September produced good quality fruits, especially for the Pinot Noir grapes. A huge harvest in general for the region. Overall many experts believe that 2004 is one of the greatest vintages of the last two decades.

News Article: Laurent-Perrier Alexandra Rosé 2004 placed fourth in our comprehensive Blanc vs Rosé blind tasting in May 2017 with Essi Avellan MW. Read the full write-up here.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand Cru | Pinot Noir: Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzenay | Chardonnay: Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
Grape Varieties: 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay
Ageing: 10 years on the lees
Dosage: 7-8 g/l
Drink: Now to 2025

Tasting Note: On the nose hints of strawberries and redcurrants combine with candied fruits. A stunning palate dominated by Pinot Noir elegance, this is well refined with superb balance. More red fruits and a delicate but full-bodied finish of strawberries and blackcurrants. From magnum, and given time to mature, this will be outstanding.

Although originally founded in 1812, the name Champagne Laurent-Perrier was not conceived until 1964. After changing hands through several deaths and marriages, it was Bernard de Nonancourt who initiated Laurent-Perrier's rise to world fame. One of Champagne's most important figures in the 20th century, he officially took over in 1948 after a three-year apprenticeship at the Houses of Delamotte and Lanson. In his 62-year tenure, production grew from just 80,000 bottles annually to over eight million. Under de Nonancourt, Laurent-Perrier were the first House to use stainless-steel vats and the first House to create both a zero dosage champagne (Ultra Brut) and a non-vintage prestige cuvée (Grand Siècle).

Sadly, de Nonancourt passed away in 2010 and Laurent-Perrier is now managed by his two daughters, Alexandra and Stéphanie. The production style is elegant, Chardonnay-driven, pure and fruit-forward and current Cellar Master Michel Fauconnet believes strictly in minimising oxidation. Indeed, Laurent-Perrier are one of the most reductive in style, serving to enhance their fruity expression and smoky complexity. Now one of the region's largest producers, they are perhaps best known for Cuvée Rosé, the most recognised rosé champagne on the planet.

Cellar Master: Michel Fauconnet
Winery Location: Tours-sur-Marne | Champagne, France
Champagne Region: Vallée de la Marne
Annual Production (bottles): 7,500,000

The Busy Wine Lover's Guide to Laurent-Perrier wine-searcher.com, 22nd May 2014

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In 1812 André-Michel Pierlot, a former cooper and bottler from Aÿ, settled in Tours-sur-Marne and set up business as a champagne négociant (merchant). His son who succeeded him, Alphonse Pierlot, established the champagne house Le Roy Fils & Pierlot. In 1881, on his death bed and with no heir, he left the house to his Cellar Master Eugène Laurent and his wife Mathilde Emilie Perrier. The house became known as Eugène Laurent & Co.

Eugène Laurent ensured that his business had the essential basis for producing great champagnes by buying several existing houses in Tours-sur-Marne to build up his own estate. In parallel, he acquired a number of plots located in the very best terroirs of Ambonnay, Bouzy, Dizy and Tours-Sur-Marne. He also excavated 800 metres of cellars and installed a tasting laboratory, only to meet a premature, accidental death in 1887. His widow Mathilde decided to take on the running of the company herself and renamed the house Veuve Laurent-Perrier & Co linking her name with that of her late husband.

Mathilde died in 1925 and her daughter Eugenie inherited the company facing a huge challenge, but strived to keep up the business her mother had worked so hard for. However, in 1939 with only 12,000 bottles left in the cellars, she sold the business to Madame Louise Lanson de Nonancourt, the sister of Champagne producers Victor and Henry Lanson and her youngest son, Bernard de Nonancourt eventually inherited the house.

In 1945 when Bernard de Nonancourt returned from the war, he began an apprenticeship at the houses of Delamotte and Lanson, learning all he needed to know about champagne production. By 1949 he was finally ready to take over ownership of the house which at that time was still called Veuve Laurent-Perrier. It was changed in 1964 to Champagne Laurent-Perrier.

Bernard de Nonancourt’s ambition from the start was to make great quality champagne and establish the house as one of the main players in the region. In his 60 years at the helm, Bernard created the modern-day Laurent-Perrier style: essentially light, fresh and elegant champagnes. He transformed it into a leading independent Champagne brand with a global reputation with success founded on a healthy respect for the natural world and for people. His philosophy was ‘with quality people and quality products you cannot fail’.

Prior to 1968, making non-vintage rosé champagne was virtually unthinkable. It was in the midst of a cultural revolution that the visionary Bernard de Nonancourt gave it its credentials. This daring wine combines real structure with freshness and a soft, vinous character.

Cuvée Rosé Laurent-Perrier is made using nearly a dozen crus: most of them Grand Cru from the southern and northern regions of the Montagne de Reims, including the celebrated Côte de Bouzy. With a preference for Crus located in Ambonnay, Bouzy, Louvois, Verzenay, Verzy and the northern part of Mailly, Bernard’s rosé in its elegant bottle inspired by the times of French King Henri IV soon made a worldwide name for itself, eclipsing his ambitious vision for the house.

Having reached 90 years old, Bernard sadly died in 2010 and was succeeded by his two daughters Stéphanie and Alexandra, who today ensure Laurent-Perrier remains firmly a family owned Champagne house.