the harvest took place in September with sunny weather for ideal ripening of the grapes. The wines are fresh, elegant and complex. The Chardonnays have notes of white fruit and the Pinots Noirs, red fruit aromas. Bernard de Nonancourt, founding president of Laurent-Perrier, developed the first iteration of Grand Siècle as a solution to the variable vintages in Champagne, attempting to retain consistency in quality over time. A majority of Chardonnay supplemented by Pinot Noir, is selected from a maximum 11 of the 17 Grands Crus villages in Champagne. It is aged on its lees in the cellars for more than ten years before being disgorged. Shows some reductive notes, which for a 75cl I wasn’t expecting. Its fresh and notes of freshly gathered in hay and rich stone fruit. This is very good, bright lemon and plum dominate and its texturally rich with hints of tropical like pineapple coming through on the end.”

Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle(ローラン・ペリエ グラン・シエクル) Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle(ローラン・ペリエ グラン・シエクル)

Laurent-Perrier’s imminently released NV Brut Grand Siècle #25 is showing beautifully, unwinding in the glass with an incipiently complex bouquet of pear, crisp stone fruit and mandarin mingled with hints of smoke, buttered toast and dried white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, layered and textural, with a fleshy core of fruit, terrific concentration and a racy spine of acidity, it’s a deep, comparatively structured wine that will evolve beautifully in the cellar. As I’ve written before, this iteration is a blend of the 2008, 2007 and 2006 vintages, with 2008 lending #25 its depth and structure, 2007 contributing additional cut and 2006 additional richness. While the #25 exemplifies the seamless charm of this bottling, it’s also one of the best propositions for long-term cellaring among recent renditions of Grand Siècle, and it will really reward time on cork” Grand Siècle, like Versailles, is the result of harnessing the elements of nature to produce a prestige cuvée like no other. Iteration No. 25 is a truly remarkable champagne, the perfect reflection of my grandfather’s vision, and his legacy to recreate the perfect year.”The name chosen by Bernard de Nonancourt, upon the advice of Général de Gaulle, for Champagne Laurent-Perrier’s prestige cuvee, launched in 1959. My expectations were high for this blend that comes with a majority of 2008. As high a proportion as 65%, in fact. It gets complimented by 25% of the great Chardonnay year 2007 and a dash of the voluptuous 2006. Crisp Chardonnay notes dominate the pure and youthful nose of lime, peach and chalk, which comes with stylish restraint and delicate toasty layers. The combination of predominance a cool year and high proportion of Chardonnay (60%, the highest share ever!), bring such finesse and tension to this Iteration, that I am immediately taking it amongst my all time favourites. The mousse is impressively creamy yet invigorating and the style seemingly long-ageing and tight. If it is this fine in 75cl bottles, I cannot wait to taste its grandeur in magnums!” Special Delivery Requests? Let us know if we need instructions for where to find your house or want us to leave your wine in the shed! Finally, how long can a particular iteration of Grand Siècle age? According to Cossy, the answer is uncertain. “We don’t really estimate the aging potential of Grand Siècle because we have no expiration dates. So far this capacity of the wine to extend over time without losing this vibrancy and energy is really unique in the prestige cuvée environment because all of them are vintages. Some vintages have the capacity to age, but some of them do not. A majority of Chardonnay complemented by Pinot Noir from a maximum of 11 Grands Crus out of the 319 Crus in the Champagne region.

Grand Siècle | Champagne Laurent-Perrier | FR Grand Siècle | Champagne Laurent-Perrier | FR

années exceptionnelles choisies pour leur complémentarité parmi les rares millésimes de Laurent‑Perrier. winter and spring frosts had an impact on yields, which were rather moderate. The dry, sunny summer produced wines of great finesse with elegant and balanced Chardonnays and Pinots Noirs with red fruit aromas. The first bottle was off the charts. Utterly seamless and delivering so much youthful and balanced energy. For a 60 year old wine this was unbelievably drinkable.”All same day deliveries are made in TFB "Jute Bags" a 100% recyclable material highly durable, made with tightly The first release of Grand Siècle was a blend of wine from the 1952, 1953 and 1955 vintages, and the latest, just released in the past few months, is a blend of the 2006, 2007, and 2008 vintages. As the cuvée can not be labeled a vintage Champagne, as there is fruit from more than one year, the company identifies these wines according to a term known as iteration. I must admit I was not familiar with this word, so I looked up the dictionary definition which is “the repetition of a process.” This each new release of Grand Siècle bears an iteration number; this newest release is Iteration #25. The brand’s vision still runs in the family, since 2010 it has been continued by his daughters Alexandra Pereyre de Nonancourt and Stéphanie Meneux de Nonancourt, who accompany the Chairman Stéphane Dalyac and Michel Fauconnet, Cellar Master and Production Manager forming the Laurent-Perrier Management Board. Michel has been at the company for 40 years, progressing from Cellarman in 1974 to assistant Chef de Cave in 1983 until his appointment as Cellar Master in 2004. In September 2019, Laurent-Perrier further strengthened itself with the arrival of Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt, Alexandra’s eldest daughter who is representing Grand Siècle worldwide. She is training with the Cellar Master and the Production and Salesforce teams, thus becoming part of Laurent-Perrier’s innovative team. Going well beyond rare vintages, Grand Siècle recreates the perfect year with each new iteration. Laurent-Perrier has, since 1959, launched 24 iterations of Grand Siècle, which perpetuates this wine’s unique style in Champagne each time. The expression of the perfect year is that of a great champagne wine that has long ageing potential and over time develops depth, intensity and aromatic complexity yet retains its freshness and vibrancy.

Grand Siècle | Champagne Laurent-Perrier

This iteration of Grand Siècle leans heavily on the Chardonnay side with its 58% proportion. Two great vintages, 2012 and 2008, compose a lion’s share of the blend with 2007 supporting. The overall impression is one of ripe and exuberant fruitiness. Upon release this February 2022 disgorgement shows rather open and expressive already in all its honey and floral tones. Taking into account the varietal proportion, Pinot Noir’s presence can be felt strongly on both the nose and palate. There is ample power and body to the richly textured palate, the 2012 vintage seems to be driving the wine at the moment. Lots of concentration here, which no doubt will reward cellaring.”

le gel hivernal et celui de printemps entament précocement le potentiel de récolte. Les pluies printanières seront compensées par un bel été et donneront des vins d’une grande finesse avec des Chardonnays élégants, équilibrés et des Pinots Noirs aux arômes de fruits rouges. Just a hint of reductive charm and there is real intensity to the fruit; rich & ripe lemon sherbet, ripe pear, yellow plum and a twist of dried grass. You really see the Chardonnay dominance, 60% and the red fruits are currently quite subdued. The palate is a mix of racy freshness from the acidity and soft texture from its long time on the lees and such lightness and delicacy to finish with a twist of salinity and dosage at 7 g/l seems perfectly integrated. Like many 2008’s this has great purity to the fruit. 65% 2008, 25% 2007 & 10% 2006” Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt, granddaughter of Bernard de Nonancourt who represents Grand Siècle, told the drinks business at a vertical tasting held by Laurent-Perrier that the task in creating the latest iteration was to “recreate the vision of my grandfather”. malgré un été mitigé, la chaleur bénéfique et le temps sec de septembre offrent des vins structurés dotés d’une belle longueur avec des Chardonnays aux notes d’agrumes et de fleur d’acacia et des Pinots Noirs fruités.