The
Laval family's presence in Cumières, a Premier
Cru village on the right bank of the Marne, is
documented back to 1694, making them one of
the oldest winegrowing families in the
village. For generations the family grew
grapes and sold them to the négoce houses
rather than producing their own Champagne.
That changed
in 1971, when Georges Laval began bottling the
family's own Champagne for the first time,
marking the birth of the domaine as an estate
producer. The same year became the estate's
defining moment for a different reason:
Georges read a report on an expedition by
Jacques Cousteau noting that pesticide residue
had turned up in Arctic ice — an untreated,
uncultivated place with no crops nearby.
Struck by what that implied about how far
agricultural chemicals could travel, he made
the then-radical decision to convert the
vineyards to organic farming, eliminating
herbicides and pesticides entirely.
Georges' son
Vincent joined the domaine in 1991 after
finishing his studies and took full charge of
the estate in 1996, becoming the fourth
generation to farm the family's Cumières land.
Maintaining the estate's Ecocert organic
certification Vincent layered in biodynamic
practices, indigenous-yeast fermentation,
barrel aging, low-or-zero dosage (most cuvées
are Brut Nature), minimal sulfur, and extended
lees aging.
The domaine
remains small and focused producing some
15-20,000 bottles a year; tiny by Champagne
standards. Today the house is now widely
regarded as one of the pioneering names of the
grower-Champagne movement.
Renegade
received five cuvees this week that we are
excited to share with you.
2023
Georges Laval Champagne
Premier Cru Brut Nature Cumières
$140
This is
Vincent's flagship wine, a blend of 50%
Chardonnay and 25% each of Pinot Noir and
Pinot Meunier.
Aged in
neutral oak for 6 months and released with no
dosage, this bottling can be enjoyed on
release or cellared for years to come. This
premier cru wine reveals hints of citrus,
minerals, brioche.
Very special.
Enjoy with a
classic roast chicken and oven potatoes, a
proper bowl of tater tots, a lavish plate of
homemade tempura or grilled oysters ..or a
Sunday evening conversation. Simply delicious.
2023
Georges Laval Champagne Extra Brut Garennes
$135
Les Garennes, which is an Extra Brut, is his
only cuvee that sees a dosage (only one gram
per liter).
Garennes is a
multi-vintage solera blend featuring Pinot
Meunier, Pinot Noir & Chardonnay from the
villages of Chambrecy, Damery, Cumières &
Hautvillers. This ongoing blend is then
blended with at least 50% of the current
vintage base wine from the same plots and
varietals.
Notes of apple, pear, nectarine and citrus
with a streak of mineral tension. The
sophisticated balance between precise mineral
precision and fleshy texture make for an
exciting experience.
2022
Georges Laval Champagne Premier Cru Brut
Nature
Les Chênes
$250
The excellent Chênes terroir is located in the
eastern part of the village of Cumières,
between the Route d'Ay and the Côte
d'Hautvillers, under the famous abbey.
This 100%
Chardonnay cuvee is exuberant with floral
overtones, wild citrus confit and plenty of
orchard fruit. Exotic tropical notes emerge on
the mid-palate leading the charge to a
remarkably distinct finish.
2022
Georges Laval Champagne Premier Cru
Les Vignes de Mon Oncle Brut Nature Cumières
$230
This cuvee is
made from vines recently purchased from
Vincent's uncle. Though Vincent had farmed his
uncle’s vines organically for the past twenty
years, this vineyard has never been certified
organic (his uncle did not want to be bothered
with the paperwork!), so Vincent was reluctant
to blend their production in with the fruit
from his own vines for his Cumières bottling,
as it would have then lost its long-standing
organic certification.
So, for the
time being, Vincent decided to create a third
non-vintage bottling from these vines, which
he calls “Les Vignes de Mon Oncle” Brut Nature
and is labeled under his name (for now).
This may be
our favorite from the line-up. 60% Pinot Noir,
30% Chardonnay, and 10% Pinot Meunier. The
wine has incredible concentration of flavor
with ripe peach and apple with chalky notes
and some brioche. Uber complex, and vibrant
with tiny bubbles, fantastic balance, and a
grand finish. Wow!
2014
Georges Laval Champagne Les Longues Violes
This is the
estate's smallest production wine clocking in
at around 800 bottles. Though we received a
whopping 1 bottle we thought we'd share the
review by John Gilman from issue #123 View
from the Cellar:
"The newly
released 2014 Georges Laval “les Longues
Violes” is an absolutely stunning young wine.
With each passing vintage I am more and more
convinced that this is one of Champagne’s
absolutely greatest wines. It is a pity that
there is such tiny production of it! The 2014
les Longues Violes shows stunning pedigree in
its aromatic constellation of white peach,
passion fruit, brioche, dried flowers, a
complex base of chalky soil tones, incipient
notes of macadamia nut, gentle smokiness and a
very discreet touch of buttery old oak. On the
palate the wine is pure, deep and full-bodied,
with stunning precision on the attack, great
depth of fruit at the core, superb mineral
drive, elegant mousse and an absolutely
seamless sense of balance on the crisp,
complex and hauntingly long and refined
finish. Magical juice." .
Perhaps someday we'll be lucky enough to taste
this one!
In the
meantime if there's any interest in these
Champagnes please let us know.
