Champagne’s climate can be fickle. Of all the fine wine regions around the world it has to be the most unpredictable. Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt chuckles as she recalls the countless times she has heard the latest vintage described as “unlike any they have seen in 50 years”. She explains: “We hear this all the time. No vintage in Champagne is the same!” It is the region’s capricious nature that dictates the thought process behind Laurent-Perrier’s prestige cuvée, Grand Siècle. A blend of three vintages, all with very different, complementary personalities, the idea is, that when blended together, they capture all the potential qualities a vintage in Champagne is capable of – but are rarely found in one. While Laurent-Perrier is widely recognised as one of the region’s great Champagne houses, Grand Siècle hasn’t necessarily garnered the same sort of attention as other prestige cuvées. Possibly one could argue this is because it is the only non-vintage Grande Marque prestige cuvée – but it is almost definitely because, up until recently, the vintages that made up each new release of Grand Siècle weren’t revealed. That all changed in April 2019 when the house first released Grand Siècle Itération No 24 in bottle and Itération No 22 in magnum – identifying the blend of vintages and what each brought to the blend. Fundamentally each vintage should bring one of the three elements that can typically define a great Champagne year – structure, freshness and elegance or acidity. There have been just 24 different iterations of Grand Siècle since its conception in 1959. Pereyre’s grandfather and Champagne legend Bernard de Nonancourt first had the idea for the cuvée. (It was Bernard who took Laurent-Perrier from a small Champagne house to one of the region’s most recognised brands.) The concept came to him “from observing nature”, says Pereyre. “Champagne has a difficult climate – every harvest is very different but quality is also very different.” The perfect year didn’t exist. For him, a great Champagne was one that has reached aromatic complexity, without losing any of its vivacity and freshness – and that was the aim with Grand Siècle. Bernard’s concept had three rules. Firstly, it should always be made up of three vintages. Secondly, it should always be Chardonnay-dominant – a signature of the Laurent-Perrier house. And thirdly, it must all come exclusively from the Grands Crus of the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims. Speaking with Pereyre, it becomes clear just how much work and time goes into each Itération of Grand Siècle. Each release is 15 years in the making: once all three vintages have been selected, they are blended then spend at least 10 years on lees. The wines do not see any oak and are made as reductively as possible, another key to the cuvée’s freshness. The wine is only released when ready to drink, but Pereyre is confident each has the potential to age 20, 30, even 40 years without losing its vibrancy. As larger-format bottles evolve more slowly, magnums of each Itération are typically released a couple of years later. Pereyre has spent her life in Champagne. Baptised with Grand Siècle as a baby, it seems fitting that today she is charged with the prestige cuvée. Laurent-Perrier is one of the few Grandes Marques still under family ownership. Her mother and aunt took over from her grandfather in 2010, with Peyeyre joining the business in 2019.  Ever since she joined, Pereyre has been training under the watchful eye of Chef de Cave Michel Fauconnet, one of Champagne’s most experienced winemakers. Fauconnet has been working at Laurent-Perrier since 1974 and headed up the winemaking in 2004. He is also the winemaker of the illustrious Salon (also owned by Laurent-Perrier). Fauconnet has Pereyre studying how each parcel tastes, how it develops and how it works in the blend. While Grand Siècle always comes from 11 Grands Crus – Mailly, Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzy, Verzenay, Tours-sur-Marne in Montagne de Reims, and Cramant, Oger, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly and Avize in the Côte des Blancs – the proportion in each Itération is different. “The top of the hill versus the bottom can bring very different expressions to each vintage,” says Pereyre. “All the hard work of Champagne is in the blending – every cellar master knows what they have in mind and what style they want to express. Ever since my grandfather created the first Grand Siècle, it has been the cellar master’s job to try to recreate this style – linear, taut, mineral, a lot of acidity, not too open aromatically – but not too acidic and to have some roundness.” It is still very early days for Pereyre, but she is tasting all the time – the only way to learn, and appreciates she is blessed with a great teacher. With the contents of each Itération now in the public domain, the wine is gaining huge scores from the region’s leading critics – perhaps unsurprising given the pedigree of the vineyards and cellar team. Grand Siècle is the greatest expression of Laurent-Perrier’s house style. Browse all Champagne Laurent-Perrier listings

Ahead of the long-awaited release of Grand Siècle Itération No 23 in magnum, we speak to Champagne Laurent-Perrier’s Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt to find out what’s so special about their prestige cuvée 

We speak to Champagne Laurent-Perrier’s Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt to find out what’s so special about their prestige cuvée Grand Siècle

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle and the perfect year

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle: recreating the perfect year

2018 Ch. Mauvesin Barton (in jeroboam) + Champagne Elise Bougy, Le Mesnil – chosen by Damien Barton-Sartorius  “To me, a meal is always about a moment. Sometimes very important ones such as announcing a baby, sometimes it’s more casual as would be a meetup with friends. I like to think that the bottle should never be more important than the moment. It should not frustrate the generous person who wanted to share a special bottle that becomes overlooked – or even worse steals the show... Unless it is the show! The special bottle then becomes a moment of its own. It is an interesting thing (and sometimes fun!) to taste great labels blind, judge them on their value/pleasure. But it tears away what wine should be: excitement. If I am going to drink a Mouton Rothschild 1945, I honestly don’t really care if it’s good or not. It’s a piece of history in a bottle that I will be sharing with friends and I would really like to know this ahead of time so I can be excited about it for as long as possible. Just like planning holidays ahead!  “Christmas is an important moment but the moment is family, not the wine that will be put on the table. I want a wine that will trigger some chat. Briefly – before enjoying the wine as a lovely drink, fuel of diverse conversations. There should be enough of it to spend some time with it. Aim for large format. We all know that even a magnum can be short…  “To be very personal here, I just got married and I will spend my first Christmas Eve with my wife’s family. A bit of home, some volume to enjoy and share: Ch. Mauvesin Barton 2018 in jeroboam is my choice for dinner. Oh but what would Christmas be without Champagne… a sneaky bottle to share only with my wife before the dinner: Elise Bougy Le Mesnil. Now I am excited for Christmas!”  Damien Barton-Sartorius is the 10th generation of his family to run the Bartons’ Saint-Julien Classed Growth estates (Ch. Langoa Barton and Ch. Léoville Barton), while his sister Mélanie is at the helm of Ch. Mauvesin Barton, together continuing their grandfather Anthony’s and mother Lilian’s legacy. 2010 Ch. Latour, Pauillac – chosen by Jonathan Maltus  “We’re drinking Ch. Latour 2010. There are 10 of us – all family – two grandparents, four parents and the rest kids. As a family we don’t enjoy turkey so we have beef Wellington – which I’m hoping this will go well with.” Jonathan Maltus is the man behind the Saint-Emilion property Le Dôme, one of Bordeaux’s original garagistes. 2001 Richebourg, Grand Cru. Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat – chosen by Charles van Canneyt “For dinner, a Richebourg 2001. Perfect to drink now and taking full advantage of the complexity and power of a Richebourg – with a good capon! We had Suchots 2017 – all about the fruit – when we put up the tree, a vintage that’s approachable young and very enjoyable!”  Charles van Canneyt is one of Burgundy’s most talented winemakers. The young vigneron is at the helm of Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat, based in Chambolle-Musigny, and also has a négociant label under his own name.  2015 Ch. Haut-Bailly + 2019 Meursault, Les Vireuils, Domaine Roulot – chosen by Véronique Sanders “It’s so very difficult to choose just one bottle… while many people start their celebration with Champagne I always love to start (and finish) with a glass of Sauternes or Barsac. Right now I am loving Ch. Haut-Bailly 2015 which is so charming and is pure pleasure! Of course I also love wines outside of Bordeaux – white Burgundy being my weakness… I have my eye on a bottle of Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Vireuils to share with the family this year.”  Véronique Sanders is the powerhouse at the helm of Ch. Haut-Bailly, the leading Pessac-Léognan estate.  2018 Paul Cluver Estate Chardonnay, Elgin, South Africa – chosen by Spencer Fondaumiere  “I grew up in Nairobi at a time when the wine scene was not nearly as advanced as it is now. My mother enjoyed her wine. My dad was a beer man through and through. What was regularly available was wine sold in five-litre boxes labelled as ‘late harvest’, with just enough sweetness to interest you to get to the bottom of the bottle – or more accurately the last dredges of the cask. I have now lived in Cape Town for the last 11 years and my wine appreciation has grown a little bit beyond the voluminous late harvest on tap.  “Christmas is a time for family and my mom and dad will be spending the holidays with me and my family. Since I last saw her, Mom has developed an appreciation for cool-climate Chardonnay and I am quite keen to crack open this bottle that has a bit of age on it. I am hoping it will be like nothing she has ever tasted before and I am hoping even more that she will like it. Dad, on the other hand, remains partial to beer, but every Christmas I optimistically open a bottle and hope that this will be the wine that converts him into a wine lover. That being said, there is not too much 2018 Chardonnay hanging about so it may not be the worst thing if this doesn't turn out to be the one.”  Spencer Fondaumiere is one of the most exciting names on Africa’s wine scene. The Kenyan chef-turned-sommelier and serial entrepreneur is now Chairman of the South African Sommelier Association and has two businesses – using his expertise to advise wine-drinkers, restaurants and producers via Slowgold and Wineyard East Africa. A trio of Bouchard’s best – chosen by Frédéric Weber  “For Christmas with my family, I have planned a 2016 Meursault Genevrières to accompany the foie gras that my sister makes herself every year. I like the combination because our Genevrières has just the right freshness and delicacy, especially in 2016, to awaken the tastes and accompany the sweetness of foie gras seasoned with a touch of Sichuan pepper and a hint of fleur de sel, a great match! With the duck, of course a Beaune Grèves Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus 2003. Two-thousand-and-three was my first vintage in the house [at Bouchard], 20 years ago already, great memory of this harvest and Baby Jesus is a nice wink for Christmas Eve! And then a Corton 2013, my mum loves Le Corton and we don't refuse her anything.”  Frédéric Weber is the detail-oriented Head Winemaker at Bouchard, one of Burgundy’s leading, quality-focused producers and négociants. He has been at the company since 2002, taking over fully from his predecessor Philippe Prost from the 2014 vintage.  Champagne Corbon, Brut d'Autrefois, Avize (and a couple of back-up bottles) – chosen by Chris Gaither MS  “Christmas is always a special time of the year for my family. My wife, Rebecca (also a Master Sommelier), who is Jewish, always looks forward to the combo of Hanukkah and Christmas celebrations back-to-back, especially with our young daughters. We tend to favour multiple evenings of delicious food and drink that we can enjoy, albeit with moderation. And she and I rarely finish a bottle when drinking together at dinner, if it's only the two of us sipping. Surprised? It’s partially because we have two kids and run two businesses (Ungrafted and GluGlu), so work doesn’t stop even after dinner! So, on Christmas evening we'll be having a low-key 'Jewish' Christmas dinner, with a few other Jewish families. We are going to order Chinese food from one of our favourite restaurants in Millbrae (Wonderful is the name if you'd like to know), and chow down on some tasty dishes with a few of our favourite bottlings from producers we admire.  “Rebecca and I are huge fans of Champagne, and most times if you ever see us sipping on something together, it's usually just that. Champagne Corbon is a tiny grower based in the Vallée de la Marne (run by Agnès Corbon – ladies rule!), but they sell a good portion of their fruit from their vineyards there. They own two hectares of vineyards in Avize, of which they use to produce most of their wines. The Brut d'Autrefois is based on a 35-plus-year-old perpetual reserve (or solera) that is roughly based on 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir. The solera consists of a single neutral oak vat that is 50% drained each year for bottlings of D'Autrefois, and then refreshed with a new year's vintage. Delicious, exuding a bit of richness, with nice texture, and loads of complexity. We were fortunate enough to get a few bottles of these, and I think we'll be drinking the last one we have... for now... The other bottles are ‘just in case’ bottles that we love.  “2018 Domaine Weinbach, Riesling Schlossberg, Grand Cru, Alsace: Who doesn't like Riesling? Any sommelier with street cred will tell you to drink more Riesling – it's routinely underappreciated in the world of wine, and you can get fantastic examples that are made with the same care as Grand Cru wines in other regions, but at less than half the price. Weinbach is one of our favourite domaines within Alsace, and it is currently run by Catherine Faller (again, shoutout to all the ladies making the magic happen in wine!) and her sons, Eddy and Theo. This Riesling is coming from their holdings in Schlossberg, the first Grand Cru to be ratified in Alsace in 1975. The wine almost always has a deftly balanced touch of botrytis, with lovely bruised apple and peach, with a very noticeable meyer lemon twang on the finish.   “2011 Fixin, Premier Cru, Clos de la Perrière, Domaine Joliet Père & Fils: This particular vineyard is a monopole within the village of Fixin, and this bottling is 100% Pinot Noir. It is run by Bénigne Joliet, who purchased the vineyard from his other family members in 2004, with the goal of making the Clos de la Perrière one of the more famous vineyards in the Côte de Nuits in Burgundy. Rebecca had the opportunity to visit the estate and meet Bénigne back in 2014 on a visit. She purchased the bottle of 2011 Clos de la Perrière on this trip. I’m super excited to drink it with her! She’s great at putting bottles away and not touching them!”  Chris Gaither MS was born in Atlanta and started working in hospitality to help pay the bills while at college. He gradually fell into the wine side, becoming hooked and – after a stage at The French Laundry in 2008 – launched into San Francisco’s wine scene, working at top restaurants and earning various awards. He became the fourth black person to pass the Master Sommelier exam when he passed in 2022. Married to a fellow Master Sommelier, Rebecca Fineman, together they own and run two restaurant/wine bars, Ungrafted and Glu Glu, in San Francisco. 2003 Chinon, Les Roches, Domaine Alain & Jérôme Lenoir – chosen by Ivan Massonat  “Of the (many) bottles I intend to open, one is high on my expectation scale: a 2003 Chinon from Domaine Lenoir. It’s a bare bottle, without any label nor cap, that I bought from Jérôme [Lenoir] a couple of years ago, after a few hours of tasting down in his ‘cellar of wonders’. After tasting several decades, 2003 had struck me as super fresh and elegant, like magically untouched by the famous 2003 summer heatwave in France. I would like to open it for New Year’s Eve, with one my best friends from high school who’s also a wine lover – and not a label drinker!” Ivan Massonat is the ex-financier that created Domaine Belargus, the Anjou estate that has fast become one of the Loire’s most famous, shining a light on its varied terroir through a single grape – Chenin Blanc. Stellar Spanish and South American bottles – chosen by Carlos de Carlos  “This year we have some cousins from the USA that will come home for Christmas evening and dinner. As they come to try some good South American wines, I will drive them around some of my all-time favourites for dinner. So the selection will be: Baettig Los Primos Chardonnay 2021 for the aperitivo. A wine that shows the very best of the south of Chile with a finesse and minerality that I love. Then Viña Cobos Chanares Malbec 2018 – one of my favourite wines in Argentina coming from Los Arboles in Tunuyán, Valle de Uco. Really special vintage from a really unique vineyard! And the grand finale will be Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial 2008-2009-2010 [the 2020 release] – not only because the wine itself, but also because it was a very special present for my birthday that a very close friend gave me… and will be tasted alongside my favourite dish, Spanish paella.” The charming Carlos de Carlos is one of the founders of Baettig, along with winemaker Francisco Baettig, a Chilean producer that is one of our favourites. A flight of Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux – chosen by Blandine de Brier Manoncourt  “This Christmas my family will begin with a fabulous Champagne, Laurent Perrier’s Grand Siècle Itération No. 26, which we will enjoy as an apéritif around the tree. At the table, our dinner will begin with Corton-Charlemagne from our dear friend Stéphane Follin-Arbelet, the 2008 vintage, which will pair perfectly with a lobster dish. Next is, of course, Figeac! First the 2010 vintage of Ch. Figeac – it is magnificent right now, and goes very well with truffled capon. Finally we will enjoy our favourite vintage of Ch. Figeac, the 1990. We wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!”  Blandine de Brier Manoncourt is daughter of the iconic Thierry Manoncourt who established Figeac’s modern reputation. Having studied at Sciences Po Bordeaux, she is Co-owner and General Secretary, especially involved in managing the property’s heritage.  2001 Ch. Figeac – chosen by Frédéric Faye  “My family is very excited this year to serve one of my favourite vintages of Ch. Figeac at our Christmas dinner, the 2001. This is a vintage in its full maturity, a vintage which sadly is often overlooked by wine-lovers but is in fact one of the great references of the property. Fresh, elegant, with a beautiful concentration… it will pair perfectly with ris de veau in a sauce à la morille. Wishing a happy Christmas and New Year to you and your families!”  Frédéric Faye is Managing Director of Ch. Figeac, where he has been working for over two decades, having arrived as an intern in 2002. Blanquette de Limoux, Antech, Brut Nature – chosen by Christina Stanley  “I share a holiday tradition of sipping bubbles with my mum while cooking, before any guests or family arrive. My dad suffered a stroke back in 2014, and she is his caretaker. Last year, when she tasted Varnier-Fannière Blanc de Blancs, she said, “This tastes like every good time I have ever had,” but Champagne is not what we drink while cooking. You know what’s great with a splash of orange juice? Antech Blanquette de Limoux Brut Nature. It has delightfully bright, lemony acidity, an abundance of chalky minerality, and it’s inexpensive. The main grape is Mauzac, locally known as ‘Blanquette’. Wonderful as a versatile aperitif and perfect as a Mimosa base, Blanquette de Limoux plays a starring role in any holiday gathering.”  Christina Stanley is an Advanced Sommelier and the Wine Director at The Slanted Door Napa – an outpost of Charles Phan’s group of legendary restaurants that are a reference point for fine dining and modern Vietnamese food. 2008 Merlot, Miani, Colli Orientali del Friuli – chosen by Michele Dal Forno  “I think I would pick a Merlot from Miani. Enzo, the owner, is truly the ‘last of Mohicans’ of vignerons in Italy, as he is seriously devoted to his vines and the wines he makes are a pure expression of each varietal he grows. I was lucky enough to taste many of his wines last summer with himself and some other friends and I was shocked by the genuineness of them all. In particular the Merlot 2008 was so fresh and rich that I was literally blown away when I tasted it. If you want to understand how an authentic Merlot should taste, Miani is the one.”  Michele Dal Forno is one of Romano Dal Forno’s sons, founder of the legendary eponymous Valpolicella estate  1988 Ch. Montelena, Napa – chosen by Maya Dalla Valle   “After a fantastic 2023 harvest, we are relaxing and celebrating this holiday season. At our most recent team holiday dinner we decided to open a magnum of 1988 Ch. Montelena to commemorate the successes of the 2023 growing season and vintage. With the recent passing of Mike Grgich, it was also an homage to one of the great winemakers of Napa. The wine was stunning, and well appreciated by all of us as red wine producers.”  Having travelled and made wine around the world, Maya Dalla Valle returned to Napa in 2017 to make wine with her mother Naoko at Dalla Valle, as well as embarking on a new project in collaboration with Ornellaia, DVO. 2016 Champagne Henriot, L’Inattendue – chosen by Stefan Neumann MS  “Expect the ‘unexpected’! Henriot’s single expression of Avize called L’Inattendue (translating literally as ‘the unexpected’) from the 2016 vintage is something I look forward to sharing with my family on Christmas Day. Full of energy, this pure Chardonnay gives me on the one hand the comforting softness of spiced pear and golden apple, but on the other hand the razor-sharp freshness of lemon and orange peel. This, in front of the family’s Kachelofen (tiled ceramic stove), paired with a freshly cured trout, might sound simple yet is heaven to me. If life has taught me one thing – you can’t beat an old-time classic.”  Austrian-born Master Sommelier Stefan Neumann cut his teeth at restaurants in Vienna and Salzburg before moving to the UK. He’s worked at many of Britain’s most illustrious establishments, most recently on the floor at The Fat Duck. Today he works as a consultant, using his extensive expertise to advise clients and companies. Explore more Editorial 

There’s no better time than Christmas to crack open a bottle of something special. We asked some of the biggest names in the industry – from top sommeliers to superstar winemakers – to tell us what they’re uncorking this year, and why

We asked some of the biggest names in the wine industry – from top sommeliers to superstar winemakers – to tell us what they’re uncorking this year, and why 

What the wine world is drinking this Christmas 

What those in the industry are drinking this Christmas

Second wines are no longer à la mode. In Bordeaux, these junior siblings – traditionally made with declassified fruit from the Grand Vin – are being rebranded as alternate expressions of a château. While this has fast become a familiar trope among the region’s master marketeers (who wants to suggest that anything is lesser?), for the Guinaudeau family of Ch. Lafleur the idea has become a fundamental part of their philosophy.  “A new cuvée, a new label – that’s marketing,” says Omri Ram – the man at the helm of the Guinaudeau estates today. For the family (who are mentioned repeatedly in our conversation, their involvement and influence is much more than monetary), any new wines must be a new Cru. Literally meaning a “growth”, the term doesn’t translate particularly well, but it’s a wine that should be “from viticulture, terroir, ideology”, Ram says. The inspiration is Burgundy rather than Bordeaux, comparing to Amoureuses or Malconsorts, a site that offers a distinct expression, year in, year out. “A special cuvée that costs 300 bucks – no, thank you,” he laughs. It hasn’t always been the approach at Ch. Lafleur – or more accurately, the “Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur" (the name that encompasses all the Guinaudeau estates). Les Pensées was originally conceived as a second wine, used to ensure the consistency and top quality of the Grand Vin, primarily made with fruit from young vines. But that all shifted in 2000, when they decided to separate out a diagonal 0.7-hectare valley, a strip of clay within the otherwise gravel-dominated Lafleur vineyard. The concept was – and is – to take the same core DNA of Lafleur, their old-vine material – and translate it through the lens of different terroirs. Les Pensées was their first step towards this, but in the early 2000s the Guinaudeau family started thinking about another expression of Lafleur – one on limestone. Little did they know that it would take almost 20 years for this idea to come to fruition.  And so they started looking for a limestone site. But Pomerol is the only place on the Right Bank with absolutely no limestone, and a plot on Saint-Emilion’s plateau (the obvious choice for prime limestone terroir) was a pipedream. In the unlikely scenario that a plot came up for sale, the price would be astronomical (the buyer would, in Ram’s words, need to have “big, big, big, big pockets”, his eyes visibly boggling at the idea). And while Ch. Lafleur might be uttered in the same breath as the likes of Pétrus, Lafite and Margaux, it remains a small, family-run affair. With Saint-Emilion ruled out, the family turned closer to home.  A distant but direct ancestor of the Guinaudeau family established Ch. Grand Village in 1650, and Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau reclaimed the Fronsac estate in 1980. Five years later they took charge of Ch. Lafleur, marking the start of this illustrious property’s renaissance. While their reputation has been built on the Pomerol estate, Fronsac has always been home. In fact, Jacques and Sylvie still live at Grand Village today, while their children– and current custodians of the family business –Baptiste and Julie also live on the outskirts of the village.   Although Fronsac might be considered lowly today, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, its wines commanded higher prices than those of either Saint-Emilion or Pomerol. The Médoc reigned supreme, with its affluence, proximity to the city of Bordeaux and access to transport via the Gironde – but Fronsac, bordered on one side by the Dordogne River and on the other by one of its subsidiaries, Isle, was not far behind. As nearby Libourne developed, this only helped Fronsac and its wines grow in importance. Back then, Ram explains: “You couldn’t cheat. If you didn’t have a great terroir, you wouldn’t be able to make great wine in nine out of 10 years.” Of course, the region fell from grace – and even today you can stumble across abandoned vineyards, no longer bringing in enough income for someone to bother to farm them. But the best wines speak for themselves – Ram and the Lafleur team have tasted bottles back through the 20th century and there are undoubtedly “great, great things” – even up until the 1980s, proving the potential of the region.  That history, combined with the familial ties and a dream of reviving Fronsac’s reputation of yore, made the region the obvious choice.   There were two elements key to creating a new Cru for the Guinaudeau family: firstly, the right site, but secondly having massal selections of their old vines. Lafleur has long championed its particular plantings of Bouchet (a historic name for Cabernet Franc) and Merlot that pre-date clonal selection.  They started a nursery for their heritage clones at Ch. Grand Village – taking cuttings of their most interesting old vines, grafting them onto American rootstocks and then repeating the process. The challenge was cultivating enough vine material for a new site. As this project got underway, the family continued their search for the perfect vineyards – but also decided they needed to test the theory, and see if their vines’ DNA would translate on limestone.  And so G Acte was born – a “beta testing” programme for what would become Les Perrières. They picked limestone-dominant plots at Ch. Grand Village for an experimental series, starting with the 2009 vintage – Acte 1. By Acte 6, 7 and 8 (the 2014, ’15 and ’16 vintages), Ram tells me, they knew that they were onto something special. At the same time, the team continued to search for the right site. Originally they looked to Burgundy for their inspiration, where the illustrious Grands Crus sit neither at the top or bottom of the hill – but in Fronsac the mid-slope only proffered overly rich, fertile soils dominated by clay. Each site they explored brought new disappointment – until they decided to forget about Burgundy. The best wines in Pomerol, Saint-Emilion and even the Médoc all come from a plateau – so they changed tack and started hunting for a site perched up high.  Talking to the region’s older vignerons, they discovered the plateau of Meyney – beneath which lies a warren of quarries, the source of the limestone that was used to build much of Libourne, and the châteaux across the Right Bank. The first soil-pit they dug offered instant promise – with a meagre 20cm or so of topsoil before you were scraping at the mother rock.   Almost a decade after their search had begun, in 2011, they bought the first vineyards – Les Canards and Les Poulains – just seven kilometres from Grand Village, then another parcel the following year. When Ram arrived at the estate in September 2013, he spent his first day working on one of those nascent vineyards. The work required was extensive. These sites had been conventionally farmed, planted with clones selected for quantity rather than quality, so they needed total rehabilitation. They uprooted the vines and rotated various cover crops (herbs, flowers, cereals) to revive the soils over four years – totally reconstituting them, returning organic matter and also, importantly, re-stabilising the soil structure. The whole process took four or five years for each plot, with the first of their new plantings only going in in 2016 (Les Canards). The focus was, at first, on Bouchet from Lafleur, with 20 different selections. In 2017, they planted Les Poulains, with around 25 Bouchet selections, then in 2018 they planted three more clay-rich parcels with Merlot, partly with their own heritage selections, as well as some carefully selected clones that passed muster.  In 2018, they harvested their first crop from 3.5 hectares of vines. The quality of the Bouchet from these “extreme limestone” soils was so distinct that – even when blended with Merlot parcels that had previously been used for G Acte – they bottled it under the new Cru’s name, Les Perrières.  Tasting it in a line-up alongside previous vintages of G Acte, the difference is as extreme as the soils. Later vintages of the experimental series offer a red-fruited crunch, vibrancy and transparency, but the 2018 Perrières shows an instant shift. There’s a step up in purity, precision, concentration and complexity, with a wilder, swarthier fruit character, yet it’s the mineral salinity that shines through, and is echoed in the 2019. These are serious wines that have a clear sense of place.  The 2020 vintage is the first that came exclusively from Perrières vineyards, with none of the G Acte parcels (these are now all being used for Grand Village). As they initially had more Bouchet plantings on these sites, the blend has shifted over time – with the 2020 having 70% Bouchet, 60% in 2021 and a return in 2022 to the 50/50 mix that is the norm for Lafleur and Pensées. While the aim isn’t always to have this varietal mix, the vineyards are planted so that Merlot and Bouchet can be equal – but the blend will be decided on taste.  Bouchet might be Lafleur’s trademark, but the Merlot is an essential component in Ram’s view. Alone, Bouchet is too linear, vertical, intellectual and even borderline austere. Merlot complements this, ensuring it not just makes you think, but leaves you reaching for another glass. “The greatest wines are not just for the mind, but for the heart and stomach too,” Ram says.   It’s still early days for Les Perrières – the soon-to-be-released 2022 will be only its fifth vintage. These vines are still babies by almost any standard, let alone those of Ch. Lafleur. Yet its potential – and path – is already clear. Ram anticipates it will take them around 20 years to get the wine to where they really want it to be, sitting as a true equal to Ch. Lafleur, but he’s confident that it’s just a matter of time.  It's amazing to see the work that has gone into this one wine – both on paper and in the glass. This isn’t just marketing, but a creed for the Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur – and one that it’s hard not to believe in. Your cheat sheet to the Lafleur stable: the Société Civile de Ch. Lafleur unpacked Ch. Lafleur – the property’s most famous wine, seen as the Grand Vin, an expression of the Lafleur DNA on gravel  Les Pensées – now an expression of the Lafleur DNA on clay. Up to and including the 1999 vintage, this was Ch. Lafleur’s second wine, made with fruit mainly from younger vines. From the 2000 vintage, the fruit comes exclusively from a diagonal strip of clay in the Lafleur vineyards, and is a different Cru. (It was labelled as Les Pensées de Lafleur prior to 2018, when the “de Lafleur” was officially dropped.)  Les Perrières – an expression of the Lafleur DNA on limestone, sourced from vineyards in Fronsac. The 2018 and 2019 vintages include some parcels at Ch. Grand Village, however from 2020 the fruit is sourced exclusively from separate sites in Fronsac, on extreme limestone soils on the plateau de Meyney.  Les Champs Libres – an expression of pure Sauvignon Blanc on limestone soils, from specific parcels in Fronsac. The first commercial release was the 2013 vintage.  Ch. Grand Village – a red and white are made under the Fronsac estate’s name, which is also the family home (Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau still live there today).  G Acte – made from 2009 to the 2017 vintages inclusive, an experimental series testing the concept of Lafleur on limestone while trying to find the right sites for Les Perrières, made using fruit from limestone-dominant parcels at Ch. Grand Village. The releases are numbered, with 2009 Acte 1 and so on.  Explore all Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur listings or read more about Bordeaux  

Ch. Lafleur is a Pomerol icon. Sophie Thorpe sat down with Omri Ram to talk about the philosophy that has driven the creation of its unique Crus – and the evolution of its newest project, Les Perrières

Sitting down with Lafleur winemaker Omri Ram to explore the philosophy behind the Pomerol property’s different Crus – and how G Acte became Les Perrières

How Lafleur created a new Cru with Les Perrières

From the ground up: the creed at Lafleur

Les Perriers

Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru

Gevrey-Chambertin

Côte de Nuits

Burgundy

France

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