About
Laurent-Perrier's signature non-vintage brut leans unusually hard on Chardonnay — over 50%, with 30 to 35% Pinot Noir and 10 to 15% Meunier, plus 15 to 30% reserve wines drawn from around 100 crus. Four years maturing in the cellars gives fine bubbles and a persistent mousse over pale gold. The nose is delicate — fresh citrus and white flowers — and the palate moves through vine peach and white fruit, balancing freshness against delicacy with the fruit still ringing on the finish.
The Chardonnay lean is the house signature, and it comes from one man. Marie-Louise Lanson de Nonancourt bought the small house at Tours-sur-Marne in 1938. Her son Bernard fought in the Resistance and rode into Bavaria with Leclerc's armoured division, then took the reins in October 1948. He built the style around Chardonnay for finesse and launched Grand Siècle and the Brut Rosé along the way. By 2005 the house had climbed from hundredth largest in Champagne to third.
Only the cuvée, the first and cleanest pressing, goes into this wine. The dosage sits at 8 to 9 grams per litre, low for a house brut, so the citrus stays sharp rather than sweet.
Serve it well chilled, around 8 to 10 degrees. It is built as an aperitif, and it carries on happily beside roast chicken or a delicate white fish.
Structure
Grape
Picked on Stef's structure profile.
