Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée

A champagne of great finesse and a beautiful freshness obtained after a long ageing process in the cellar. Laurent-Perrier’s style and personality are defined by its high proportion of Chardonnay.

It is very rare for a grand marque champagne house to change its house style, being its non vintage cuvée, but that is exactly what Laurent Perrier have done. The house is renowned for its elegant chardonnay lead style but as of recently the brut has been replaced by 'La Cuvee' a new flagship cuvée for the maison.

The Maison says that this new cuvée allows them to 'dial up their style' which is all about elegance, freshness and purity. The number five selling champagne of the world has been reborn with better quality fruit, decreased dosage and longer ageing time in the cellar increasing its complexity and creaminess.

I would partner this dish with a fish tart. I like the light white fish in a cream base but with a gorgeous crispy pastry base which will marry up perfectly with this invigorated cuvee.

55% chardonnay in the blend offers the cuvee citrus notes and lemon zest with white florals filling our glass. Delightful toasty biscuity flavours are more prominent than ever in what is perhaps the best non-vintage wine ever produced by the house.

Quite often people do not realise why they like a certain champagne brand. Some houses focus on the pinot noir grape in their champagnes which provides big, round and powerful cuvées and some houses focus on chardonnay which provides more mineral drive, citrus and elegance. If you prefer the latter, then perhaps consider a bottle of Laurent-Perrier as your 'go-to' entertaining wine.

This maison has a serious history but over the last 100 years has had a long line of influential women at its helm (Mathilde Emilie Perrier in 1812 and later in 1938 Marie-Louise Lanson de Nonancourt), and we cannot help but think that this has influenced the style – graceful, elegant and sophisticated. Of the larger maisons in champagne this is more subtle and understated in its profile. This may be to your preference and it is an affordable champagne label.