Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée Brut Champagne NV
Champagne houses don’t launch new wines every day, let alone the wines that are the staple of their house. We’re in full re-brand territory mofos, as Laurent-Perrier replaces their Brut NV (the fifth biggest-selling Champagne in the world) with this brand new offering, and things are looking up. Very up. This is the first new wine introduced by Laurent-Perrier in over thirty years. They’ve spent the last fifteen years working on finessing La Cuvee, making sure it was ready to lead their brand into the future. This has been created by going beyond the known, and liaising with brand new growers (including some Premier Cru vineyards) to create the blend. The increase in chardonnay (double the average for a house style) and lees time (average four years!) makes for a bright, generous and complex style with great finesse and freshness.
Profile
It was a winner at the Tasting Bench, too. “Briochy and textured, but zippy and fresh. Kinda apple strudel-y, with lovely clean acidity,” said Nic, one of our Wine Dealers.
And you can definitely smell the four years on lees. It’s got beautiful flavour and mouthfeel, and I know that texture’s from the extra time in bottle as the grapes were whole bunch pressed. This gave the wine its finesse and its name, because the cuvee is first press - so it has minimal skin contact, which means very little in the way of phenolics (white wine talk for tannins, really).
For more, check out the vid below from Mofo Buyer, Ben.
Reviews
Huon Hooke
“(This replaces the old Brut LP, and will be released in Australia early July. It had 4 years on lees instead of 3, has more chardonnay - 55% - and lower dosage. No taille, only cuvée, hence the name) A superb wine, outstanding for such a large maker and for the 'workhorse' wine of such a big house. Very creamy. Hints of peach and toast. A lovely soft, rich, full-flavoured but also refined wine.”
It’s cool, we get it, you want to know absolutely everything about this wine. Well here you go, go nuts.
Specs
- Region
- Champagne
- Vintage
- NV
- Cellaring
- 2022
- Preservatives
- Sulphites
- Alcohol by Vol.
- 12.0%
- Closure
- Cork
- Bottle Vol
- 750mL
- Blend Info
- Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
- Serving Temp.
- 7.0°C
Tasting
From the producer
The wine comes from the purest grape juice and it alone allows Laurent-Perrier to craft ‘La Cuvée’, a champagne of great finesse and a beautiful freshness obtained after a long ageing process in our cellars. Laurent-Perrier’s style and personality are defined by its very high proportion of Chardonnay. Purity, freshness and elegance – essential characteristics, expressed in this champagne – are a good introduction to the spirit of the House.
Region
Champagne
Champagne is not generic sparkling wine, it's a region. There I said it. Get it right people. The reason the French get their lingerie in a twizzle when we call Trilogy 'Champoyne' is the history, the money and the angst that have all gone into making Champagne what it is today: a bureaucratic, strictly controlled, marketing-driven behemoth, that still manages to pump out some of the world's finest and most consistent wines. Adding bubbles to wine was a masterstroke of genius, and makes wine from marginal regions not only palatable, but unique and eminently desirable. But it's the way the grapes are grown, the land they're grown in, and the way the bubbles are generated that makes traditional method sparkling (which all Champagne is) special. There will always be alternatives, but none have the history and marketing power of the luxury Champagne powerhouses. You're not buying wine; you're buying a brand name. And that's ok.
The rules are there ain’t no rules, but here are some foods we think will work pretty well with this wine...
Goes with
Spinach, leek and goat's cheese tarts
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 leek, trimmed, thinly sliced
- 60g baby spinach leaves, large leaves chopped
- 3 sheets frozen ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, partially thawed
- 1 eggwhite
- 75g goat's cheese
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup thickened cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat until hot. Add leek. Cook, stirring often until softened. Add spinach. Cook until just wilted. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool.
- Using a 6.5cm (diameter) round cutter, cut 8 rounds out of each sheet of pastry. Use pastry to line 2, 12 x 1 1/2-tablespoon capacity patty pans. Brush pastry lightly with eggwhite. Bake until light golden.
- Spoon leek mixture into tart cases. Crumble over goat's cheese. Whisk egg, cream, and salt and pepper together in a jug. Carefully pour egg mixture over goat's cheese. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
The wines we remember are about the moments. The people, the places. That’s life. Here are some ideas...
Good times drinking awesome wine with friends gets even better when we all start singing along...