First Taste: Laurent-Perrier launches new cuvée Héritage

Héritage is a multi-vintage blend of reserve wines enticingly priced at a similar level (£75 per bottle in the UK) to the vintage bottling.

At a time when the Champagne market is cooling off, does Héritage represent a smart buy for those looking for a dash of prestige complexity without the price tag?

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for the new Laurent-Perrier Héritage

Opening the door

‘You can think of it like the second wine of Grand Siècle’, explains Laurent-Perrier CEO Stéphane Dalyac. ‘Grand Siècle is only made from grand cru vineyards, and it has certain rules,’ he says, referencing its consistent blend of three declared vintages (the current Itération 26 is composed of the 2012, 2008 and 2007 vintages).

‘With Héritage, we have opened the door to non-vintage years, while using the same concept.’

With a rich library of reserve wines kept in stainless steel, Laurent-Perrier was able to assemble a blend of the 2019, 2018, 2016 and 2014 vintages split between 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir, drawing on fruit not only from Champagne’s grand cru heart but also from the Aube (Les Riceys), Sézanne and Montagne de Reims premiers crus, such as Villers-Marmery.

The style is Laurent-Perrier through and through in its precision and vitality, however cellar master Michel Fauconnet says that he wants wines that ‘arrive at maturity without any oxidative notes’.

Héritage does seem like a wine that will happily take longer in the cellar, although customers would do well to take some notes – there is no way to track the iterations of Héritage as there is with Grand Siècle, perhaps because restaurants, rather than private customers, are the primary market.

See also: Champagne Laurent-Perrier awarded Royal Warrant

A new iteration

Tasted alongside the new cuvée was the Laurent-Perrier 2015, the current Grand Siècle Itération 26 and the Itération 24 in magnum, based on the 2007 vintage.

These are some of Champagne’s most consistently impressive prestige cuvées. Fauconnet is now one of the longest-serving cellar masters in the region despite the house having announced two replacements during the last five years – Dominique Demarville and Maximilien Bernardeau – both of whom left after less than a year, with Fauconnet remaining at the house.

The passing of the cellar keys remains a sideshow, however, for a house on a fine run of form. Héritage may be primarily aimed at the on-trade, but avid Champagne followers would do well to snap up this fine addition to Champagne’s growing band of multi-vintage wines for their own cellars, too.

Héritage retails in the UK for £75.

The new Laurent-Perrier Héritage

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