"Les Chênes" Cumières Premier Cru Brut Nature 2017 1500ml Magnum
A pure Chardonnay from the chalk-driven south-facing vineyard site of Cumières — certified organic, fermented with wild yeasts in wooden casks and bottled without dosage. A Champagne of almost maritime precision from one of the region’s oldest organic estates.
Bottler: Champagne Georges Laval, 16 ruelle du Carrefour, 51480 Cumieres / France
In the glass
Colour
Intense golden yellow with a broad, extremely fine mousse.
Nose
A complex bouquet of sea air, lemon, oyster shell and smoke, accompanied by delicate hints of Amontillado sherry and roasted almonds.
Palate
Taut, distinctive and exceedingly refreshing on the palate; pure salinity and fine citrus notes linger long — pure umami with powerful depth.
Character
Mineral, precise and complex all at once — a terroir-driven Champagne in which chalk and lees maturation take precedence over the effervescence.
Pairing
Oysters and fresh seafood, indeed anything from the sea — such as sole, scallops or sashimi.
Notes
Single-vineyard Chardonnay from a parcel on pure chalk at mid-slope with a southern exposure; gently pressed in the smallest vertical press in Champagne, spontaneously fermented and aged in used wooden casks — unfined, unfiltered, without dosage and available as a rare magnum bottling.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Intense golden yellow, accompanied by a broad, extremely fine mousse — the magnum format lends the bead additional patience and precision.
Nose
Dense and multi-layered: sea breeze, lemon, oyster shells, a hint of smoke. Behind these, delicate notes of Amontillado and toasted almonds — a depth rarely found at this price level.
Palate
With no dosage, it comes across as taut, incisive and remarkably refreshing. Pure salinity makes the mouth water, while the wine possesses impressive power. Citrus fruit and mineral traits carry it a long way — umami in its purest form.
Finish
Long, saline, with persistent citrus zestiness and an impression of wet limestone.
Terroir & origin
Les Chênes — “the oaks” — lies in the eastern part of Cumières, between the roads to Ay and Hautvillers, below the famous abbey. The plot sits at mid-slope in a pure south-facing exposure, with a chalk subsoil beneath a thin layer of clay-silt topsoil. A Premier Cru vineyard site on the right bank of the Marne, just a few kilometres north-west of Épernay.
Grape variety & vinification
Pure Chardonnay from the chalky south-facing slope. Vincent Laval presses particularly gently using a traditional Coquard vertical press — the smallest in the region — ferments with wild yeasts in used wooden casks and bottles after ten months: without fining, without filtration. Sulphur levels are generally below 20 mg/l. The single-vineyard cuvées mature for 50 months or more on the lees.
Food recommendations
This Champagne loves everything that comes from the sea: oysters, sole, Greek-style marinated sardines, lobster or simply sea bass ceviche. It is also a revelation with sushi.
Special features
The Laval family has farmed organically certified vines since 1971 — at that time, fewer than ten growers in Champagne worked in this way. From just 2.5 hectares, around 10,000 bottles are produced each year; this magnum from a single plot is correspondingly rare. A Champagne in which terroir matters more than carbonation.
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