Georges Laval Garennes NV

Georges Laval Garennes NV

Georges Laval
$109.00

Grape: Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Vintage: NV
Type: Sparkling

This organic grower Champagne is a multi-vintage solera blend crafted by Vincent Laval from vineyards in Chambrecy, Damery, Cumières, and Hautvillers. The blend features pinot meunier combined with pinot noir and chardonnay, incorporating at least fifty percent base harvest fruit from the vintage. Vinification relies on spontaneous native yeast fermentation inside neutral French oak barrels, avoiding chemical corrections or added sulfites. It undergoes traditional secondary bottle fermentation and matures on its lees before a low-dosage disgorgement.

It pours a pale straw-gold color with a fine, energetic mousse, opening with complex aromas of dried pear, hazelnut, and mint leaf. On the palate, the vinous frame is round and balanced, pairing concentrated orchard fruit with a sharp line of limestone acidity. Savory layers of crushed flowers and fresh pastry dough develop nicely as the fluid mouthfeel expands. A bracing wave of maritime salinity runs through the center, keeping the texture fresh.

This tiny, impeccably run estate in Cumières is known only to a select few connoisseurs of champagne. You could drive through the village a hundred times without knowing it was there. Behind these simple, unassuming wooden doors, however, lies one of Champagne’s great treasures.

While the Laval family has been growing vines for four generations, Georges Laval began producing estate-bottled champagne in 1971. His son Vincent has been in charge of the cellars since 1996.

Two hectares are in the premier cru village of Cumières, spread over seven parcels. The average vine age is over 30 years, and the oldest vines of the estate are over 70 years of age.

The Lavals have been practicing organic viticulture since 1971, certified by Ecocert. “It’s a little more difficult to work organically than conventionally,” says Vincent Laval, “but it can be done, of course, and afterward you have a better conscience.” 

Organic compost is used, and cover crops are planted in all of the plots, with regular tilling.

In the cellar, the grapes are pressed in a traditional Coquard vertical press that holds a mere 2,000 kilograms—the minimum size allowed in Champagne—in order to ensure maximum quality and control over individual parcels. Laval’s wines are harvested ripe and almost never chaptalized, and fermentation takes place in barrel, with indigenous yeasts. The wines are bottled late, usually about ten months after the harvest, and they are neither fined, filtered nor cold-stabilized. While Laval is not against the use of sulfur, he does try to limit its use as much as possible.