NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut
Community Tasting Note
forceberry wrote:
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 - An older NV bottle from the early 1970's. 12% alcohol. Bottled in a 0,77-liter bottle.
Medium-deep golden yellow or pale bronze color. The nose feels old and oxidative yet quite attractive with complex aromas of bruised apples, some orange marmalade, light syrupy tones, a little bit of dried stone fruits, a hint of pineapple and a touch of browned butter. The wine feels rich, balanced and slightly off-dry on the palate with a medium body and complex flavors of apple jam and lemon marmalade, some zesty notes of ripe orange, light dried pineapple tones, a little bit of toffee or butterscotch, a hint of saline minerality and a touch of caramel. The wine is moderately high in acidity and there's a tiniest suggestion of subtly tingly mousse on the tongue. The dosage feels abnormally high for a wine labeled "Brut" - to me, this feels more like a Sec (or even a Demi-Sec from the drier end!). The finish is long, quite tertiary and somewhat off-dry with a complex aftertaste of orange marmalade, some pineapple tones, a little bit of saline minerality, light citrus notes of Meyer lemon and somewhat bitter grapefruit, a hint of incisive steely character and a touch of caramel.
A rather old and tertiary but still very drinkable Champagne that feels somewhat sweeter than what one would expect from a "Brut". Based on the somewhat marmaladey richness and quite pronounced tertiary notes that veer towards caramel rather than nuttiness, I'd say the dosage here is in the ballpark of 15 to 20 g/l rather than around 10 g/l. Not that it's a bad thing per se - I can imagine that residual sugar has helped the wine to survive in somewhat sound condition for this long. Although the wine has probably seen better days and is starting to feel a bit tired now, it is still in perfectly enjoyable condition, all things considered.
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