Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Itération N°27 75cl

Nature never hands you a perfect year, so Laurent-Perrier stopped waiting for one. Grand Siècle is built by blending three great vintages into a single wine, and N°27 is 65% 2015 for its expressive, open fruit, 25% of the cool late-ripening 2013 for cut and freshness, and 10% of 2012 for depth. There have been only 27 of these since 1959. That is the whole idea — a prestige cuvée answering to a standard rather than to a calendar.

The blend runs 60% Chardonnay to 40% Pinot Noir, drawn entirely from eight Grands Crus. The Chardonnay is Côte des Blancs at its most serious: Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Avize, Cramant. The Pinot Noir comes from Tours-sur-Marne, Ambonnay, Bouzy and Verzy. It then sits on its lees for the best part of a decade — the house counts ten years for the 75cl — before disgorgement in January 2025 at 7 g/l. That length of ageing is where the texture comes from.

Gold, fine and persistent bead. Honeysuckle and candied lemon first, then hazelnut and fresh almond, and behind those the pastry-and-honey register that only long lees contact delivers. The palate is dried apricot and candied citrus over a chalky, saline core, finishing far longer than you expect. The sort of bottle that makes a table slow down slightly after the first glass. It drinks beautifully now and will keep well past 2040.

How to Serve

10–12°C. A white-wine glass; a flute wastes it. Ten minutes of air does no harm — with this much lees age the wine opens rather than fades, and the second glass beats the first.

Where to Drink It

The Connaught Bar, before dinner rather than after. The American Bar at The Savoy, when the occasion wants a room with a memory. Artesian at The Langham for something less formal.

Food Pairings

Roast chicken. Not a joke — a properly cooked bird, skin browned, juices spooned over, is the best thing you can put beside mature Champagne: the acidity cuts the fat, the age meets the roasted flavours halfway. Turbot if you want to stay lighter.