Help please--L-P Grand Siecle MV Champagne--Which Vintages?

I tried in vain to get advice from Laurent-Perrier concerning how to identify the three vintages included in their MV Grand Siecle bottlings. I had a delicious bottle last night with the black background & gold print label with a gold sunburst and copper-colored foil. “LP 225057” is etched on the back of the bottle near the base. I believe this is an older bottling, but have not been able to pin it down. There must be a Wineberserker out there who knows the answer. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

David,

No way to identify the vintages unless you contact LP and actually get them to give you a straight answer. Their lot numbers (to my knowledge) essentially need a lookup table to be cracked. Any clue as to when you purchased the bottle and if it was a new release when purchased? That wouldn’t make things exact, but it can help to narrow it down. Also, if it is something that was released in the last couple decades or so and you have the six or twelve pack case/box it came in, their is often a bar code on the outside of the case/box with a date on it related to when the distributor/importer put the items into stock. This can also help narrow things down.

That is what I was afraid of. Aside from contacting L-P, I had done some snooping around to no avail. But I do have the original cardboard box and one label on it has a 1/29/2004 date. I will give L-P another try with photos, etc. Thank you.

David,

That will help as that date puts it right around the time that L-P would have been shipping the newer label (black and sliver): https://www.champagnegallery.com.au/uploads/Shop/products/_large_laurent_perrier_grand_siecle2[1].jpg

But, some of the older (black and gold) would also be around:

I know the newer label Grand Siecles from this time frame were 93/95/96. I cannot recall off the top of my head if they also did this blend in the older label (I think they did, but not 100% positive). Based on the date on your box, I would guess either 90/93/95 or 93/95/96. Both are very good wines and hard to find today… because you can’t tell what the heck you are buying!

Of interest, L-P is launching a library release of the Grand Siecle called “Les Reserves”. This late disgorged version will actually contain the vintages in the bottle and I hope this small step forward will eventually lead to the regular release containing the vintage info as well. Initially only available in Mags and Jeros, the first blend released will be 90/93/95.

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Thank you very much Brad. Based on L-P’s stated minimum of 7 years aging for La Cuvee, I think the 90, 93, 95 blend is more likely. Unfortunately, an article on the La Reserve bottlings suggests that for now they will persist in not disclosing the blend and disgorgement for regular Grand Siecle bottlings.
http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2012/10/l-p-considers-late-release-prestige-cuvee-concept/
I thought the trend in Champagne was towards more disclosure and transparency. Oh well. If I learn anything more from L-P or elsewhere, I will pass it along.
Cheers!
David

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David,

L-P’s policy makes no sense to me as they have always trumpeted this wine as an MV that changes from release to release… yet they also say it is a consistent wine that is blended to be the same high quality from release to release… yet they also say that some releases are better than others and deserve to be in their new library collection “Les Reserves” and that we need to know that vintages in these bottles.

None of it makes sense and is poor consumer relation. I am hopeful the info provided on the Les Reserves is a small step forward and that they will continue to be outgoing with information. Time will tell.

Brad, this brings up an important point. Do you have or is there a list of all producers who disclose base wines and other vintages included in NV/ MV releases?

Opinions on this wine? K&L carries it and the employees there rave about it, so I’m close to picking up a bottle for, again, “research purposes”.

I think it is a great Champagne, and better than most of the vintage models on the market. I always look for it at auction. If K&L’s notes are accurate, this is a great blend (60% 96, 20% 97, 20% 99) with some decent maturity.

I agree with this 100%. And the absurdity of it all is that apparently the info is shared on some basis. K&L currently lists detailed vintage breakdown (by year and %) for one release. I have seen vintage breakdown disclosed elsewhere too.

Any updates/answers to this question? I had a very nice Grand Siecle with dinner tonight. NM 235-003 on the backnlabel probably has nothing to do with disgorgement. A81FF on the cork.
Thanks

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Can’t vouch for accuracy but I found this attempt of guidance past the champagne codes, and according to this your cork would indicate A for first quarter and inverted 18 for year. So disgorged Q1 2018.

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Q1 2018 would be a 2006/2004/2002 blend. With the blend just released onto the market (2007/2006/2004), LP has finally given in and provided a way to tell what the wine in the bottle is. Each blend now has its own number (following what many other producers such as Krug have done). The 2007/2006/2004 blend is labeled on the bottle as ‘No. 24’ as it is the 24th blend of Grand Siecle released to date.



Thanks, Johan and Brad. That’s great information. I thought it showed much younger than an '02-'04-'06 blend, so I’ll let my remaining bottles rest. That’s a great combination of vintages, and I’m very happy to have them.

I also have a couple with the old gold label. No telling what those might hold.

Cheers,
Warren

Greetings Brad and others- very happy to have found this thread. Today I went to an out of the way Total Wine to pick up some lingering rarities in the cooler, and picked up two bottles of Grand Siecle- but there is no indication of a release number or other codes that could tell me the blend.

The bottles have the newer dark blue/silver label and lettering and capsule. Also, each had an added white sticker on the back (I think added by Total Wine) with the bar code as well as the date November 2015. The salesperson who assisted me was not completely sure, but believed that would have been the month and year the bottles were taken in by Total Wine. This makes sense to me since Grand Siecle is one of those wines where they put 1-2 in a store at a time. So I would expect the cases are not broken out until they get into Total Wine’s hands.

Based on the above info- any notions on what the possibilities might be blend-wise? I presume from the other posts that once we open one, there will be a marking on the cork to give complete confirmation?

If memory serves correctly, the lettering is on the cap part of the cork, so you could read the lettering to verify disgorgement by just removing the foil without tampering with the cage or opening the bottle. But I’m not 100% on it

Tom,

It could be the start of the 2004/2002/1999 release (Iteration No. 22) or the end of the 2002/1999/1997 release (Iteration No. 21). Both of these iterations had the same packaging/labeling. Interestingly when Iteration No. 21 first came out, I was told it was a 2002/2000/1999 blend. In fact, Laurent-Perrier has gone back and ‘updated’ their communications on the three years in the blend of a number of older releases. Not sure of the ins/outs/whys of this, but some releases containing years from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s that were communicated for a long time as a particular three year blend are now communicated as actually coming from a different blend of years. Who knows where the truth sits on this, but it is odd. In general, Laurent-Perrier’s handling of Grand Siecle has always been a mystery to me. The wine sure is good though and is under appreciated mostly due to Laurent-Perrier not having a clue about how to handle it. The end result is that Grand Siecle remains a value in the big picture of Champagne.

Vintages for #24, please?

2007, 2006, and 2004. You can see all the iterations here: Grand Siècle. The perfect harmony of an unique blending..

Thanks, Brad. I appreciate your help.