Honey-gold robe, deep, beneath a fine, precisely dosed mousse. The nose is that of a fully mature champagne: orange peel, toasted buttered bread, almond, an almost metallic mineral note, like polished copper, and white flowers that return upon aeration. The palate entry is rich, the texture satiny —…
THE CUVÉES OF MAISON LAURENT-PERRIER
Honey-gold robe, deep, beneath a fine, precisely dosed mousse. The nose is that of a fully mature champagne: orange peel, toasted buttered bread, almond, an almost metallic mineral note, like polished copper, and white flowers that return upon aeration. The palate entry is rich, the texture satiny — twenty years on lees — then the wine tightens around a hint of lime and a salinity that makes the finish, long, surprisingly thirst-quenching for a wine of this age. The 6 g/L dosage is undetectable. Serve it between 10 and 12 °C, at a fine table; the magnum still has years ahead of it.
2004 is a vintage saved by an Indian summer: after a nondescript winter, a mild spring, an extended but successful flowering, and hailstorms that struck 3,300 hectares across 44 villages, around twenty sunny days, alternating with cool nights, brought the grapes to ripeness under the best conditions. The blend combines equal parts chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs (Avize, Cramant, Oger, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly) and pinot noir from the Montagne de Reims (Verzy, Mailly, Verzenay, Aÿ, Bouzy); only the cuvée, the first juice from the press, is used. Bottled in magnum only, the wine spent twenty years on lees before its disgorgement on 15 May 2025, with a dosage of 6 g/L. Delivered in its individual wooden case marked "Reserve: Vintage 2004".
Since 1812 and the arrival of André-Michel Pierlot in Tours-sur-Marne, Laurent-Perrier has spanned two centuries without ever leaving the family fold: Eugène Laurent, then his widow Mathilde-Emilie Perrier, who gave the house its name in 1887 and launched a "Grand Vin Sans Sucre" as early as 1889; Marie-Louise de Nonancourt, who bought it in 1939; her son Bernard, at its helm from 1948. Even today, the house remains independent, and its cellars in Tours-sur-Marne keep old vintages on lees to disgorge them late.
The house only releases a vintage in its greatest years — fewer than one in two — and 2004 is one of them. Along with its siblings 2002 and 2006, this magnum was disgorged in spring 2025 after twenty years on lees: these are Laurent-Perrier's "Reserves", vintages that the house has allowed to mature well beyond the norm before releasing them, in magnum and wooden case.
The almond and toasted bread notes of the wine against parmesan shortbread: two toasted notes that echo each other, and the saline finish makes you want more.
The satiny texture from twenty years on lees embraces the pearly flesh of the scallop; the hint of lime enhances its sweetness.
A lobster roasted in butter calls for a rich, long champagne: the 2004 has the structure and salinity to stand up to it.
Hélène R.
Verified customer reviewTwenty years on lees, and you can tell
Silky texture, orange peel, almond, and that saline finish that keeps you coming back. We served it with scallops, a perfect match. The magnum keeps the wine astonishingly fresh for its age.
Olivier D.
Verified customer reviewA great year, well raised
2004 is a vintage I love in Champagne. This one, disgorged in 2025, is superb: mature without being heavy, long, taut on the finish. The “Réserve” wooden case makes it an obvious gift.
Camille P.
Verified customer reviewA successful wedding gift
Given to friends who married in 2004. They opened it that very evening: honey, buttered toast, incredible length. Fast shipping, very well protected.
