Laurent-Perrier: Something New, Something New, Something… New

It was for the fourth time in two years that we found ourselves pulling into Laurent-Perrier’s trim courtyard in Tours-sur-Marne earlier this summer. The drive from Reims takes about 30 minutes and the scenic route south passes through some of the Montagne de Reims’ most famous destinations: Ludes, Mailly, Louvois and Bouzy, to name a few.

By the time we’d reached the gilded gates of LP and traversed the cool, dark, stainless-steel-tank-lined corridor that connects the ancient staircase with the modern, if somewhat sterile, all-metallic tasting room, even 8:30am somehow didn’t seem too early for a glass or two of bubbly.

Luckily, the ever-accommodating Laurent-Perrier team had prepared a whopper of a morning tasting. Supported by group chairman Stéphane Dalyac and UK managing director David Hesketh MW, soon-to-retire chef de cave Michel Fauconnet talked us through some of the many changes currently in motion at this 200-year-old house.

First up was the new champagne, Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature NV, which we reported on in depth last month. A tribute to Laurent-Perrier’s long-standing relationship with, and fondness for, Champagne’s dominant white grape varietal, this all-Chardonnay blend has been a long time in the making.

The idea spawned in 2004, when the house purchased a sizeable holding of land in the prized Côte des Blancs region, significantly increasing their access to high-quality Chardonnay grapes. After redefining their brut non-vintage by upping the Chardonnay content, they realised they had enough to bolster their already impressive portfolio with a Blanc de Blancs.

The first creation is based on 2012, with 40% reserve wine coming primarily from the ripe 2009 vintage – presumably a result of their decision not to make a Laurent-Perrier Vintage 2009, which, according to Fauconnet, was “not our style… but it works well for a non dosé wine.” Sold in the same iconic bottle shape for which their Cuvée Rosé is so well-known, Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature NV is an impressive tipple, a miniature Grand Siècle (which is of course predominantly Chardonnay), that is even more elegant and refined from magnum.

The other development in a transformative year for Laurent-Perrier is more straightforward: information. Their prestige cuvée Grand Siècle MV, is a little different to others. Always a blend of three vintages, until now it has been difficult to ascertain which vintages are inside a bottle without knowing how to decode its lot number.

Henceforth, Grand Siècle will be released and numbered as an Iteration, with the corresponding number displayed on the neck of the bottle. A flash new website, GrandSiecle.com, can then be used to reveal the secrets of each individual creation, including the vintages and crus that make up the blend. To demonstrate the new system, we were shown the current bottle release, Iteration 24, the current magnum release, Iteration 22, and an example from the 90s, Iteration 17.

Their prestigious rosé champagnes also got a look in. Cuvée Rosé NV, already the best-selling rosé champagne and apparently “experiencing the best [sales] growth”, is a real feast of Montagne de Reims Pinot Noir. Local village Tours-sur-Marne, as well as Ambonnay, Aÿ, Bouzy, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Mailly, Rilly, Verzenay and Verzy all contribute grapes to the blend. It is of course famously made by fermenting the Pinot Noir grapes with the juice, although we were told the maceration process is controlled by aromatics, which “decide when the maceration stops… the colour is a resulting by-product, not the focus.”

The final – and perhaps biggest – change, is that of personnel. Retiring chef de cave Michel Fauconnet, who has worked at Laurent-Perrier for an incredible 46 years, will pass the torch to ex-Veuve Clicquot cellar master Dominique Demarville at the end of 2019. It will be interesting to see how their champagnes develop under his leadership; they are totally different houses, separated, literally and metaphorically, by the length of the Montagne de Reims.

It really is all happening at Laurent-Perrier, and refreshingly so. A few years ago, one couldn’t help but feel that this large house, so steeped in pageantry and tradition, was in need of a major shake-up. As David Hesketh noted, with a hint of wry humour but mostly delight, “you wait for new things and then they all come along at once.”