CHAMPAGNE : DES VIGNES AU PLAISIR

Des années après, prêtes à être expédiées

11. Special very low dosage blend (less than 6 g/l)

Ultra-brut Laurent-Perrier - for the champagne drinker in search of purity

      There is a champagne bottle that stands out for its naturalness, one could even say its "nudity". The Laurent-Perrier initials, sumptuous midnight blue label and silver foil that is used only for the ultra brut, all evoke that extreme purity that awaits the drinker's tastebuds.
For François Philippoteaux, who participated in its creation with Bernard de Nonancourt and Alain Terrier, the ultra-brut is in a category of its own. It stands out for its asceticism and authenticity. A blend only of years of great maturity, this exceptional champagne is characterized by the absence of any dosage or disgorgement. No liqueur d'expédition is added to this totally pure wine, with a sugar content below one gramme per litre.
While the concept remains unusual, it is not new. At the end of the nineteenth century Mathilde Emilie Perrier, the widow of Eugène Laurent, produced a special champagne that was christened "Grand Vin Sans Sucre" (Great Wine without Sugar). This was a bold move given that at that time champagne was served almost exclusively as a dessert wine, and that most people considered sweetness as part of its attraction. This champagne appeared on the menus of the great restaurants in Paris, amongst the most expensive on the list, and was drunk by well-informed connoisseurs, curious to try something new. It was in 1975, when nouvelle cuisine was beginning, that the house of Laurent -Perrier had the idea of relaunching this unique style of champagne. "Bernard de Nonancourt, Alain Terrier and myself devised, in the tasting room in Tours-sur-Marne, a wine that would inspire the imagination. With wines of wonderful maturity at our disposal, we reinvented the original sugarless champagne to create a wine that could accompany modern cuisine. The first blend was released in 1981".

In an age of purity

The ultra-brut remains what is referred to as a "niche" for Laurent-Perrier, i.e. a blend of which the annual production does not exceed 150,000 bottles. Even if the house remains convinced that the cuvée has a promising future, it remains in the domain of the informed champagne drinker, enjoyed by a select group of open-minded epicureans, as was the case with the cuvée rosée (pink champagne) that was also initiated by Laurent-Perrier. The "Ateliers Ultra-brut" are select tasting committees, of which Jean-Paul Kauffmann is a devoted enthusiast, that meet at his shop, "L'Amateur de Cigare" (The Cigar Lover), to drink ultra-brut. Journalists and a creative set join great chefs in a search for new taste experiences in a form of escapism that seeks out unknown sensations.

Laurent-Perrier's ultra-brut is enjoyed by an informed group of connoisseurs