What a Brut!

I feel guilty for not having made any blog entries for months.

The truth is, I've been getting my wine-and-food-nerd rocks off in a different way.

I know, I'm a dirty philanderer.

In May I started working for a fine wine distributor running a wine list and training service. I travel to restaurants all over Melbourne teaching the staff about their booze and how to sell it, design their wine lists and tasting notes and generally help to demystify the big wide world of wine as best I can, I also get to run trade events, tastings throughout retail stores and convention centres big and small.

You hate me don't you.

The upshot of all this is that I've had the privilege to work with some world-beating products very closely and have become quite enamored with a few.

Today, we talk Laurent Perrier.

*Sigh*

Laurent Perrier celebrates 200 years of Champagne production this year. A period which saw it survive 2 wars (just), a Champagne glut, innumerable Appellation Classifications and the new world's entry into Sparkling Wine production. Emerging at the end of it all as the 3rd most important producer in the world, behind Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot.

What sets LP apart is that it is still a family owned business.
Probably the most beguiling tale in Laurent Perrier's history is that in which the son of the family witnessed Nazi troops removing tens of thousands of bottles from their underground cellars to fuel the regime. Ten years later, Bernard De Nonancourt lead the French army platoon which stormed the Eagle's Nest in Bavaria, retrieving that very same collection of stolen treasure, returning it to its rightful home in the caves beneath Champagne.

Another unique characteristic of LP is its actual recipe. LP was a trail blazer in concentrating on a higher proportion of high quality Chardonnay, preferring the fresh,dry, cleansing apéritif quality that comes from this technique than the traditional style, which is Pinot Noir dominant.

The flagship for LP is the Brut NV. It smells floral, like honeysuckle and scented lilies. There is a background of delicate yeast character, translating as an aroma of buttered bread, not an over the top 'toasted rye' type-thing, just a whiff. There isn't a hint of sharpness on the tongue, just an even, balanced cascade of fresh citrus character and a lovely cleansing finish, doing its job in preparing the palate and tummy for the food that should soon follow, preferably oysters or a soft cheese, perhaps some Crostini or fresh sour dough with good olive oil.

And in Champagne terms, it's pretty cheap. You'd pick it up at Uncle Dan's for $60 any day of the week and that, my friends, is a bargain.

www.laurent-perrier.com.au