2017 Georges Laval Les Hautes Chevres Brut Nature Champagne

While the Laval family has been growing vines for four generations, it was not until 1971 that Georges Laval began producing estate-bottled Champagne. Now under the direction of George's son Vincent, this is one of the great under the radar properties in the region. Laval’s vineyard holdings comprise just 2.5 hectares, most in the premier cru village of Cumières. Across the seven parcels the average vine age is over 30 years, with the oldest vines of the estate over 70 years of age. Organic viticulture has been practiced since 1971, and despite the challenges of this approach in Champagne, they are now certified by Ecocert. 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.

Les Hautes Chevres is a tiny selection of old vine Pinot Meunier planted in 1930, 1947, 1965, and 1971. Unfortunately the 1930 parcel needed to be replaced following the 2014 harvest, yet these are still some of the oldest Meunier vines in the area. Situated at the top of the slope within the Cumieres vineyard, this tiny parcel sits on a layer of fine clay over a firm limestone bedrock base, and produces Meunier with a rich and multi-dimensional profile, further heightened as the wine ages in bottle. This micro-cuvée is one of the rarest and most sought after in the region. Bottled with zero dosage.