Bibendum Laurent Perrier Champagne tasting and dinner
Connaught Hotel, London
Tasted Monday, October 4, 2004 by IanL with 1,640 views
Introduction
An evening with Laurent Perrier, hosted by Bibendum wines at the Connaught Hotel. Stand-up tasting of upcoming and current release, plus some vintages brought from L-P's reserves. The tasting and dinner attended by Vicomte Bernard de la Giraudiere, Chairman of Laurent Perrier UK.
Flight 1 - Walk-around tasting of various new releases and vintages from Laurent-Perrier's cellars (11 Notes)
The tasting room at the Connaught felt a little claustrophobic and I wish they would ask women (and men) not to wear strong perfume at events like this - towards the end it came down to hunt the corner of the room without lingering clouds of perfume.
Flight 2 - Dinner in the Grill room at the Connaught:
A menu designed to match the champagnes served was put together by Angela Hartnett. Canapés were served with Laurent Perrier Brut NV prior to dinner.
Flight 3 - King prawns with Romesco sauce (1 Note)
Slightly ordinary, clumsily shelled prawns were an acceptable starter. The sauce was a tomato, almond and garlic reduction with a touch of spice. It was nice, but very sparing. Went nicely enough with the ultra-brut.
Flight 4 - Halibut with baby leeks and artichokes and a light chicken jus infused with white truffle oil (1 Note)
Nice dish. The truffle infusion wasn't particularly apparent, but the fish was cooked perfectly well and went nicely with the Grand Siecle NV.
Flight 5 - Roasted veal fillet on braised celery with meat juices flavoured with caramelised apple (1 Note)
Very nice, pink veal. The celery was strongly flavoured and superfluous and detracted from the rest of the dish. Caramelised apple wasn't very caramelised, but the delicate flavour of the cooked apple with the jus was very nice compliment to the veal.
Flight 6 - Millefeuille with a strawberry compote (1 Note)
I'm not a big fan of cream pastry, but as far as it goes this was very nice and well matched with the Cuvée Alexandra Rosé
Closing
The dinner was good, and the chef Angela Hartnett very charming in her welcome and introduction. The food was very good despite serving 40+ people at the same time. Service was a little sloppy - hopefully it's because we had 2nd rate servers in the slightly cramped private room and the restuarant service would have been more professional.
NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut L.P. 88 Points
France, Champagne
Pale yellow-green. Very crisp and fresh, notes of citrus and almost ripe green apples. Some green notes - given the circumstances (LP-supplied wines) this was likely to be a recent release NV, explaining the tightness. Good light mousse and mouthfeel. Medium(-) length.
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NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Ultra Brut 88 Points
France, Champagne
From the LP notes: "This singular champagne is a brut nature, that is, with no dosage, whose making requires considerable know-how." "The blend combines a small majority of chardonnay with pinot noir and is made exclusively with grapes from very ripe harvests. Bunch selection is rigorous, to ensure that only those grapes which have both high sugar levels and low acidity are retained." "Its ideal ageing period is of at least four years"
My notes: (Served too cold at the tasting). Quite alkaline feel despite the expected acidity-feel boost from zero dosage, slight spritz on the tongue (put this down to the acidity without the sugar). On its own this feels a little out of sorts, but then that's the point I guess, being designed much more as a vehicle for food matching.
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NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Cuvée Rosé Brut 86 Points
France, Champagne
Another wine that was presumed to be very recent release, quite subdued on the night with muted fruit flavours. Lots of crisp acidity, a touch green and just a little harsh. Not what had been expected from the usually very expressive LP Rosé NV. In itself the wine was fine, mouthfeel good and a barely noticable hint of red fruits. Medium(-) length.
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NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Grand Siècle "La Cuvée" 94 Points
France, Champagne
Quite forward nose, with ripe green fruits and citrus notes, hints of nuttiness. Good fine mousse and mouthfeel. On the palate the aged qualities showing through with distinct yeasty, hazelnut notes. Very expressive and good length. Favourite wine out of the stand-up tasting, including the various vintages going back from '96 to '82 (although not '90).
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1997 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Grande Cuvée Rosé Alexandra 90 Points
France, Champagne
Pale, pink-peach colour. Hints of wild strawberry, citrus and ripe honeydew melon on the nose. Fine mousse. High acidity and a long finish. Left feeling slightly nonplussed, as expected this to be slightly more expressive given the fruit selection (of which majority is PN, minority chardonnay), but there's plenty of time for this to improve with age.
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1996 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé 89 Points
France, Champagne
(From the 96 vintage that has not been publically released yet.) Quite austere, very tight wine. Pale yellow-green colour, crisp acidity and a medium length. Citrus notes holding sway over green fruits for now, but there is potential here.
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1995 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé 91 Points
France, Champagne
Slightly darker gold colour than 96. Expressive honeyed, ripe apples and citrus notes on the nose. Good mouthfeel, followed by medium+ fruit intensity with notes of green fruits and melon. High acidity and good length. Drinking well now but will keep. Unlikely to match the 96 for longevity, lacking some of the backbone and being so expressive at this age.
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1993 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé 91 Points
France, Champagne
(Seved en Magnum) Pale golden colour. Lots of complexity here, halzelnut, yeast and brioche notes mingling with candied fruit on the nose. Rich palate with medium+ fruit (honey, ripe green fruits and citrus zest) intensity and a long, biscuity finish.
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1988 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé
France, Champagne
Straw coloured, with some green tinges. Very slight whiff of cork on first inspection, but didn't get anything on further inspection or tasting (some bottle variation evident with different bottles, but no massive improvement). The notes that were there had intense nutty dimension and not much else. Not much going for it.
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1985 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé 90 Points
France, Champagne
Mid gold. Best of the 80s vintages tasted in the flight (88, 85 and 82). Still showing some honeyed, fruit notes alongisde the classic yeasty nuttiness. A touch of madeirisation evident, but nowhere near the extent of the 82. Great length.
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1982 Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut Millésimé
France, Champagne
The oldest of the wines tasted at this L-P tasting, had been impeccably stored in L-Ps own reserves and could expect it to be as good an example available. The first whiff was just yeast, then a sherry/madeirized quality that some love and some don't. Personally I dont like it in a champagne, but each to their own. For me this felt just plain tired and had nothing much left to give. Others thought it was great. I'm not against aged champagne, just that i'd like it to have a happy marriage of yeast and fruit, not just the very dry sherry-like characteristics this had. Not rated because it's too subjective (would have been low 80s).
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