Wine Of The Week: Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Grand Siècle Champagne

A stellar Champagne sourced from the highest-quality Grand Cru vineyard grapes.

Recently, my grandmother turned 90. So what better excuse to reach for something special — though, she’d argue that you never really need an excuse to open a nice bottle — than Champagne? Specifically, we popped a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Grand Siècle, the historic house’s prestige cuvée, and an exceptional bottling of exacting craft.

To produce each cuvée, Laurent Perrier is persnickety. They don’t just rely on great grapes from prime vineyards. In an effort to recreate the perfect year, Lauren Perrier cherry picks the best grapes from the most exceptional and complimentary vintages. Grapes are sourced from Grand Cru vineyards—the highest quality of vineyard within Champagne—grown over not just one year, but three. In this case, it’s the 2012, 2008, and 2007 vintages.

Next the bottle is aged for ten (!) years on the lees so drinkers are greeted with incredibly integration and layers of contemplative flavors. It’s delicate and soft; elegant and thoughtful. Honey, hazelnut, soft peach and magnolia; silky, floral, elegant and alluring. A bottle you don’t just celebrate with, but you swirl and savor.

Champagne Laurent-Perrier has been following this exact process since 1959. But they don’t produce it every year—Grand Siècle has only been released 26 times in the last 80 years. If you see a bottle, it’s well worth saving for a special occasion.

Kate Dingwall is a WSET-trained sommelier and spirits writer. Her work has appeared in Wine Enthusiast, Eater, Forbes.com, and Food & Wine, and she pours wine at one of Canada’s top restaurants.