Every Friday The no1 Champagne expert in the world will taste new & old Champagne s to give You a tip or two for the weekend. This week Richard Juhlin went to Grand Siècle @ Santiago de la Compostela with two versions of Grand Siècle. [read the full champagne story]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Laurent-Perrier
★★★★
Laurent-Perrier is the biggest success story in Champagne since World War II. The family firm was on the verge of going under in the early 1950s, but is now among the largest and most respected companies in all of Champagne. The house was founded by Monsieur Laurent, a cooper from Chigny-les-Roses. His son married Mathilde Perrier, a stubbornly ambitious woman who really established the house. World War I strained to the limit the house’s chances of survival, as several of the appointed heirs were killed. Marie-Louise de Nonancourt bought the firm just as World War II broke out, and her son, whom she had groomed to run the company, was killed in that war. Her other son, the legend Bernard, survived despite playing a leading role in the Resistance, and later returned home to take over the business in an outstanding way.
Today, Laurent-Perrier is part of a holding company that controls several other famous wine-producers in France, including the Champagne houses Salon, Delamotte, Lemoine, and De Castellane. Laurent-Perrier themselves own 150 ha of vineyards with two environmental certificates in feb’18.but have contracts with growers covering around 800 hectares. The chef de cave Michel Fauconnet is known for his clinically clean cuvées, where oxidation is avoided at all costs. L-P is widely praised for their fruity and elegant cuvées. The nonvintage, rosé, Ultra Brut and the vintage wine are all faithful old servants.
The house’s real trump card is Grand Siècle both as white and as Alexandra Rosé — two wines that beautifully carpets even the most fastidious palate. Two wonderfully complex, world-class Champagnes.
Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin
