Georges Laval Champagne Extra Brut Garennes NV

More about Georges Laval

We talk a lot about the grower Champagne revolution and the profound ways it has reshaped our understanding of this historic region. This transformation has been driven by a small but mighty, and rapidly growing, force of innovative growers who have made Champagne one of the most dynamic wine regions on earth.

Vincent Laval is, without question, one of the leading lights of this movement. His wines are stunning, heartbreakingly beautiful, essential drinking for anyone who loves true terroir-driven Champagne. I can remember tasting these for the first time almost 20 years ago and being blown away by their sheer energy and wild intensity. The wines burst with effusive personality, and if you are lucky enough to meet the warm, inquisitive, wisecracking Vincent, you will quickly understand that there is so much of his own irrepressible joie de vivre in every glass.

The Laval family has been farming grapes in the village of Cumières in the eastern Vallée de la Marne since before the days of formal record keeping. Cumières is a unique, amphitheater-shaped vineyard, rich in clay over pure limestone bedrock, insulating the vines from dramatic temperature swings.
Vincent’s father, Georges, was one of the earliest adopters of organic viticulture in Champagne all the way back in 1971. Since then, the family has worked hard to consolidate their holdings into contiguous vineyards to avoid the impacts of the less-than-organic practices of neighboring growers.

Vincent returned to the family estate in 1991 and has been running the show since 1996. Today, he works on just 4.1 hectares. The approach in the vines goes beyond classical organics and incorporates many biodynamic practices as well. Spraying of organic treatments is kept to a bare minimum, and the rows are plowed only by horse to minimize soil compaction.

At harvest, hand-picked fruit is pressed in an old school, 2000L vertical Coquard press, the smallest size legally allowed in Champagne. The must is moved via gravity directly to barrel, where the wines naturally ferment and age on their full lees. Nothing is rushed. The wines are given all the time they need to find their most expressive voice.

In the glass, there is simply nothing quite like them. They're ripe and juicy with exotic fruit, beautifully raw mineral intensity, crackling acidity, and unending length. Give them plenty of time and air in a big Burgundy glass for maximum pleasure.