Hosted by Constance Delaire at 67 Pall Mall in London on October 13, this intriguing Laurent-Perrier tasting was almost as interesting for the wines that were conspicuous by their absence as for the four Champagnes selected.
The four cuvées designed to get us out of bed on a cool autumn morning were Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature, Héritage, 2015 Brut Millésimé, and the Cuvée Rosé. Curiously, little more than a year earlier, we had been congratulating Laurent-Perrier on the recent award by King Charles III of a royal warrant, sitting in the same seats at 67 Pall Mall, with two of the same wines—the Laurent-Perrier 2015 Brut Millésimé and the Héritage, presented by the house’s venerable cellar master Michel Fauconnet.
Fauconnet’s tenure with Laurent-Perrier spanned no fewer than 52 years since joining at the age of 21. While Laurent-Perrier was founded in 1812, its modern identity took shape 70 years ago under the great innovator Bernard de Nonancourt—the pioneering force behind the numbered Multi-Vintage prestige cuvée Grand Siècle, the maceration technique for its rosé Champagne, and the groundbreaking non-dosage Ultra Brut. His legacy persists in the newly created Héritage.
Michel Fauconnet, meanwhile, had been the architect of a focus based on respect for the terroir and the essential elements of freshness and finesse, conjured principally from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Champagne’s Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims. Earlier in the year, the red carpet had been rolled out at the Vintners Hall for his successor as chef de cave, the winningly named Olivier Vigneron, who left Champagne de Castellane in 2004 to become a trusted associate of Fauconnet before finally being handed the keys to the Laurent-Perrier cellar.
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With no disrespect to Fauconnet, the breath of fresh air in the room at 67 Pall Mall then was as much in the person presenting the wines, Constance Delaire, as in the wines themselves. Delaire grew up in Bordeaux, and after earning a degree in biochemistry from the University of Bordeaux, she obtained the DNO (National Diploma in Enology) from the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences, completing her education with a master’s in wine and spirits management at KEDGE Business School. Champagne may not be the obvious choice for a red-wine specialist, but she became intrigued by the craft of blending and joined Laurent-Perrier in 2023, after six years of experience in the region as what they call “a communication-focused enologist, combining technical expertise with communication skills.”
Delaire began the tasting with the Laurent-Perrier mantra of freshness, finesse, and elegance. She argued that three crucial aspects of the savoir-faire—non-dosage, blending of the reserve wines, and maceration—all hinge on a number of criteria: first, stringent grape selection in the vineyard, followed by the vinification cellar’s “cathedral of stainless steel preserving the quality, the purity, and the freshness of the grapes without oak,” then malolactic fermentation across the range, and extended aging in the 7 miles (11km) of subterranean cellars beneath Tour-sur-Marne.
Tasting Laurent-Perrier
67 Pall Mall, London; October 12, 2025
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Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature
The first pour was the Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature, marking its third release. The wine is based on the 2016 vintage, with 40% of reserve wines from 2014 blended in. Pale gold in color, this pure Chardonnay was fresh and aromatic, with notes of sweet vanilla, lemon, and a hint of ginger. After an initial up-front richness, a refreshingly dry feel to the fruit was borne by a fine mouth-filling mousse with subtle toasty notes, and its distinctly tangy, mouthwatering, citrus-zesty level of dryness showcased its credentials as an excellent food wine with a seriously elegant freshness. | 94
Héritage
Next up was Héritage, the new blend unveiled by Michel Fauconnet last year. Over 20 years, Laurent-Perrier had amassed some 300 reserve wines, carefully preserved—variety by variety, village by village, year by year—with an average age of four to five years of stock. The residue of quality reserve wines that don’t make the cut for Grand Siècle, which is made only from grands crus, comprise Héritage. So Héritage, as the second wine of Grand Siècle, is a mini-me, sitting between La Cuvée and Grand Siècle.
Comprising 50% grands crus and 50% premiers and other crus, this inaugural Héritage is a (roughly) 40-cru blend of 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir based not on three vintages à la Grand Siècle but four (though there is no fixed recipe): 2014, for freshness, 2016 for the Chardonnay structural element, 2018 for ripeness albeit lacking vivacity, and the excellent 2019 vintage for finesse. It showed just as well as, if not better than, last year: pale gold; fine, biscuity, nutty, and complex aromas; and a rich mid-palate whose fine crème fraîche-like cushion of bubbles are supported by fresh acidity and a subtle phenolic grip on the finish—what Constance called “positive bitterness.” | 93
2015 Brut Millésimé
And so to the 2015 Vintage, tasted with Michel Fauconnet last year. Constance reminded us that 2015 had been cold and rainy during the winter, followed by warmth and sunshine, the result being wines of generous fruitiness. And indeed, this pale golden blend of 50% each of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, while still fresh, was starting to show more complexing notes of maturity, with a sweet, almondy nuttiness, the fruit buoyed by a fine mousse, with seductive mid-palate richness and weight, underpinned, despite the great warmth of the year, by lively acidity. | 93
Cuvée Rosé
Lastly, Laurent-Perrier’s Cuvée Rosé, an almost “iconic” pink Champagne, more than held its own. Selection in the vineyard is key, and unlike most rosé Champagne, it is not blended with a proportion of red wine. Instead, for Laurent-Perrier’s Cuvée Rosé, the grapes are destemmed and macerated for the precise extraction of desired color before fermentation, with a dedicated winery handling this demanding process, followed by long lees aging in the cellar. The Cuvée Rosé is a coppery bronze in color, a shade or two darker than your average rosé Champagne. Super-fresh strawberry and raspberry fruit aromas waft from the glass, inviting you into a wine of strawberry fruit flavor and a mousse whose juiciness of texture brings a beguiling mid-palate richness, with the fruit sweetness beautifully balanced and under control, even quite winey, thanks to the freshness of acidity and a faint trace of bitterness on the finish. | 93
While there were only four wines—two recently revisited—it would be churlish to object to a presentation showcasing not just some new wines but also wines that, although seen last year, were demonstrating the difference that a year’s post-disgorgement development can make. Above all, it was a great opportunity to meet Constance Delaire, whose expertise and eloquence were impressive. Whether Delaire and Vigneron constitute the new Laurent-Perrier dream team remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t bet against it.
