The house is determined to make each iteration of Grand Siècle at the highest quality level, and to that end, the grapes are sourced from 11 of the 17 Grand Cru villages in Champagne, and the wine is aged for a minimum of ten years, with most iterations aged even longer. 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” Pereyre further explains the philosophy of this wine. “Through the blend the conviction of my grandfather is that you can recreate this perfect year with not any blends, but a very specific blend of three exceptional vintages which are complementary. His idea of recreating the year has translated into a wine which has gained in complexity through time a very aromatic complexity, due to the aging, due to the choice of the Grand Cru selected, of the three exceptional vintages. 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.

Laurent-Perrier launches Grand Siècle Iteration No. 25 Champagne Laurent-Perrier launches Grand Siècle Iteration No. 25

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.” Laurent-Perrier has declared just 29 vintages between 1950 and 2008, while 45 have been declared within the Champagne region. The name chosen by Bernard de Nonancourt, upon the advice of Général de Gaulle, for Champagne Laurent-Perrier’s prestige cuvee, launched in 1959.In October 1948, aged 28, Bernard de Nonancourt was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive of Laurent-Perrier. He was one of the rare owners of a Champagne House to have done all the jobs of his future employees after being a vines labourer, cellar and office worker and a sales representative. Bernard de Nonancourt injected a dynamic momentum into the business. Keen on innovation, strongly attached to champagne traditions and to quality, he forged the commercial culture of Laurent-Perrier and created a renowned brand with a range of unique champagnes. He became President of Laurent-Perrier at the age of 28, in 1948 and held that role for 62 years until he passed away in 2010. 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. Laurent-Perrier’s NV Grande Cuvée Grand Siècle No. 24 is just starting to show the first signs of aromatic and flavour complexity, which makes it a very satisfying. Champagne for current drinking. Hints of apricot, lemon confit, white flowers and marzipan grace this wonderfully vibrant, inviting edition of Grand Siècle built on the 2007, 2006 and 2004 vintages. The Grande Cuvée No. 24 is silky, perfumed and classy all the way. Time in the glass brings out the wine’s freshness and energy.” Magnum “Compared to 24 it seems more restrained on the aromatics yet the palate is more richly textured, probably its the result of the longer time on lees. This richness really fills out the mid palate and some zesty lemon and hint of grapefruit are very attractive components. There is a hint of aniseed and dried grass on the finish with again that trademark saline lift at the end which keeps it fresh and clean. Long length goes on and on.” Laurent-Perrier, renowned for its distinctive style, a mix of freshness, finesse, and elegance was among the first houses to introduce stainless steel tanks for fermentation and storage of reserve wines. The Grand Siècle fermentation room holds fourteen, 110-hectolitre tanks.

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle NV Champagne - Majestic Wine

So he said, ‘in Champagne, we are already good at blending, blending different parcels together, different Grand Cru, but nobody has tried different vintages, exceptional vintages.’ So that’s what we went for.”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. Si le millésime en Champagne est généralement considéré comme synonyme d’excellence pour les Cuvées de Prestige, a contrario, chez Laurent‑Perrier, notre conviction est que l’art de l’assemblage peut nous permettre de créer ce que la nature ne nous donnera jamais : l’année parfaite. A blend of grape varieties, Chardonnay in the majority and also Pinot Noir. A blend of Grands Crus. A blend of three exceptional years with complementary oenological profiles. Why three vintages, and not two or four or even more? “Because he (my grandfather) tried different things and three was the best result he created,” says Pereyre. It should be notes that the final blend is not equal parts of each vintage; rather the percentage totals are based on how the cellar master decides will make the finest blend. For Iteration #25, the cuvée is 60% from the 2008 vintage, and 20% each from 2007 and 2006.

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle No.26 Champagne : The Whisky

Classic L-P benchmark fragrant gun-powdery toastiness on the nose that opens up with honey, ginger, lemon, lilies and meringue notes. Still reserved and highly youthful in magnum and keeping very fresh and zingy in 75cl bottle too. Lovely evolution and integrated richness on the refined, creamy-caressing palate. A class act.” Released to market this year, Iteration No. 25 is a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. Grapes were chosen from nine Grand Crus over three vintages: 2008 (65%), 2007 (25%) and 2006 (10%). It is aged on the lees for 12 years. Originally seen as a constraint in being a solution to the issue of inconsistent vintages, Grand Siècle is the Champagne house’s attempt to highlight the quality potential of blended wines using highly selective parcels and only the best vintages. A blend of three vintages: 2008 (60% of the blend), 2007 (20%) and 2006 (20%); 55% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir. Aged 12 years on the lees; dosage 7 grams per liter (Brut)

The Grand Siècle concept was born in 1953 by Laurent-Perrier’s charismatic owner Bernard de Nonancourt who wanted to produce the ‘perfect vintage champagne’, knowing a single year was unlikely to provide that, he blended three great vintages, allowing the creation of his ‘perfect vintage’. The Iteration series is blended from grapes sourced from 11 of the 17 Grand Cru villages in Champagne.

Laurent-Perrier Entdecken unser Champagner Laurent-Perrier

Good depth to the gold colour; on my first smell I was caught by that “hint of the sea” character with notes of salinity. You then start to see those yellow fruits like ripe pear and apples, real zesty lemons and on the palate the apple character has a spicy edge. The mid-palate fills well with the ten years of lees ageing. The fruits are citrus and pear and some tropical notes of pineapple and with a few minutes in the glass hints of pastry richness. Great finish, fresh from minerality and hint of saline and nice, long length.”She explained: “Grand Siècle is named after one of the most influential periods in French history – the Great Century – when Louis XIV at Versailles had the vision of how to sublimate nature to create something exceptional – the most illustrative examples being the gardens and fountains. 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!” 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.