A family business, the Laurent-Perrier house has become a benchmark in Champagne due to the passion and vision of Bernard de Nonancourt. He put all of his energy into the running of the house that his mother acquired in 1939. Following an image that hoisted the Champagne house to the highest levels, his daughters took over the reins of the house following his death in 2010. Established in 1812, Champagne Laurent-Perrier has a long tradition of innovation in Champagne and can be credited with many of the ideas that have defined Champagne production since the mid 20th century.Laurent-Perrier was among the first to introduce stainless steel fermentation tanks to the region in the 1950s, resurrected the non-dosage Champagne category with the introduction of Ultra Brut in 1981, and sparked the revival of non-vintage rosé Champagne in 1968 despite the opinion of other producers that non-vintage rosés were not to be taken seriously. Today, Laurent Perrier's iconic Cuvée Rosé remains the benchmark for non-vintage rosé champagne. Bernard de Nonancourt believed nature cannot provide the perfect vintage every year, so, in 1959, he launched Grand Siècle, the brand’s prestige cuvée. Grand Siècle blends base wines from three vintage years and breaks from the regional convention that a house’s most prestigious Champagne should be a vintage wine. During this time, de Nonancourt increased Laurent-Perrier’s sales a hundred-fold, helping the brand become one of the world’s leading Champagne houses. Affectionately referred to by his peers as “Le Grand Bernard,” de Nonancourt passed away in 2010. Laurent Perrier is the largest family- and female-owned Champagne house. Grand Siècle always comprises 55 percent Chardonnay and 45 percent Pinot Noir grapes, which the house sources exclusively from grand cru vineyards. The cuvée takes its name (which means “Great Century”) from the period of French history during which King Louis XIV reigned. Laurent-Perrier owns a larger, physical link to the Grand Siècle.

Perfection, elegance, independence are the 3 values of excellence that are at the center of the Laurent-Perrier Champagne House since its beginnings. With its exceptional vinifications and emblematic cuvees, Laurent-Perrier Champagne is one of those essential houses known for the consistency and precision of their style. Since 1975, the cuvees are vinified from separate parcels and then blended so that they are allowed to express the purity of the terroir.During World War II, both Maurice and Bernard fought occupying German forces in the French Resistance. Maurice, the elder of the two, was captured by the German army and tragically died in a concentration camp. Bernard de Nonancourt was a French war hero. After Eugene Laurent died in 1887 his widow, Mathilde, took control and attached her name to the company, changing it to Veuve Laurent-Perrier ( veuve means "widow"). Veuve Mathilde led the company to great success, producing 50,000 cases of Champagne. This success was short-lived, due to the outbreak of World War I. So, in 1889, Perrier created a sugar-free “Grand Vin sans Sucre,” which the brand launched at the Eiffel Tower’s restaurant. More than a century ahead of its time, the style was a precursor of today’s increasingly popular low-dosage sparkling wines. While Laurent-Perrier no longer bottles the wine as Grand Vin sans Sucre, it does offer a non-dosage Ultra Brut, which was introduced in 1981. Laurent-Perrier keeps things fresh. Her eldest son, Maurice, died during the war in the concentration camp at Oranienburg, leaving his younger brother, Bernard de Nonancourt, as the heir apparent. [3] Upon Bernard's return from war, his mother set about educating him on every aspect of Champagne making at the Houses of Lanson and Delamotte.

Laurent-Perrier boasts an exceptional terroir in the Champagne region. The subsoil in the area is made up of limestone, chalk and marl, allowing for great drainage and a mineral flavour to shine through in certain styles. The chalk soil is made up of granules of calcite from fossilized marine life, creating an extremely unique terroir. The chalk soil draws in water through capillary action creating just enough stress on the vines to achieve a balance of ripeness and acidity. The House holds vineyards in the very best terroirs of Champagne, including Bouzy, Tours-Sur-Marne and Ambonnay. The cellars and estate are situated at the crossroads of main wine regions in Marne and belong to the one of the 17 Champagne villages ranked Grand Cru in this area.In the late 19th century, sweeter, demi-sec Champagnes were popular among French drinkers. Mathilde Perrier, the pioneering widow who renamed the house, preferred a drier style, which was also more popular among British drinkers — a historically important export market for Champagne. In 1944, after the liberation of Paris, Bernard de Nonancourt served as a sergeant in the French Army’s 2nd Armored Division. His unit was the first to arrive at the Kehlsteinhaus, Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest,” in the Bavarian Alps. After blowing their way through a number of armored steel doors, the unit discovered a stash of over 500,000 bottles of wine, including hundreds of cases of first- growth Bordeaux, vintage Champagnes, and aged Cognacs. De Nonancourt was later awarded the Croix de Guerre for his wartime service. De Nonancourt was also a shrewd, hardworking businessman. Laurent later died in a cellar accident, in 1887, leaving his widow Mathilde Emilie Perrier in charge of the business. Perrier combined her and her late husband’s last names to rename the house Veuve Laurent-Perrier. The de Nonancourt family brought fame and (eventual) fortune to the house. Laurent-Perrier has become one of the international leaders in Champagne based entirely on the quality of the wines and core values as a company. Laurent-Perrier is still a family-controlled business and makes nothing other than champagne. The house prides itself on quality and consistency, attributable to having only 3 chefs de caves since 1949.

First launched in 1968, the wine is an outlier for rosé Champagnes, which normally blend red and white base wines to achieve a pale pink color. Instead, Laurent-Perrier lightly presses the red Pinot Noir grapes before macerating the must and skins for up to 72 hours in temperature-controlled vats. Following primary and secondary fermentation, the wines age on their lees for a minimum of five years. Laurent-Perrier’s Alexandra Rosé is equally iconic, but much rarer.Along with an exceptional growing season this vintage is extremely special for the family. On Alexandra’s wedding day, Bernard de Nonancourt presented the finished product of the Cuvee Alexandra as a wedding gift for his daughter. This was the perfect gift from Bernard, as his passion and love for his daughter was truly captured by this vintage. At the time of her wedding, Alexandra was not working for the Champagne house, but this gesture ignited her passion again for the family business.

It was Marie-Louise’s son Bernard de Nonancourt who truly put Laurent-Perrier on the map. He was the heart and soul of the company, transforming the small Champagne House into a global brand. After returning from the French Resistance, Bernard completed an apprenticeship to understand the business as a whole. He worked every job at Laurent-Perrier from cellar and office worker to sales representative, and became truly immersed in the company.Champagne houses blend multiple vintages of base wines to create a consistent “house style” year after year. Laurent-Perrier’s signature style, conceived by Bernard de Nonancourt, aims to provide freshness and elegance in a glass. To do this, its blends are driven by a higher-than-normal percentage of Chardonnay grapes, the least-planted and most expensive in the region. The wine is made up of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. The grapes come from some of the most prestigious Grand Crus in Champagne. During the Pinot Noir maceration, 20% Chardonnay is added. There have only been seven vintages released since its launch in 1987. The Champagne has a delicate pink colour with fine bubbles and a complex nose with hints of strawberries, redcurrant and candied fruits. The palate is elegant and refined with a mix of fruit and mineral notes. In 2003, JEROBOAM Co., Ltd was created after Laurent-Perrier, Hugel and Perrin banded together with several other private French and Japanese partners. JEROBOAM is a fine wine distribution network solely for the marketing of such wines in Japan.