Vincent Laval (Georges Laval) Cumieres Preimier Cru Rouge Coteaux Champenois, Champagne, France

$285.00

Technically, Laval has made red at the winery before. But, it was thirteen years ago, from the 2009 vintage. A famously warm vintage that ripened the fruit to a place that pushed Pinot beyond the scope of just sparkling wine. He’s been waiting over a decade for another opportunity. 

2022 was that year. Laval already has an upper hand with ripeness, as his third generation estate is in Cumieres. A village that doubles as a south facing amphitheater, the town itself hugging the Marne river with a massive hillside behind it. The vines here lap up every bit of UV the sun has to give. This is such a distinct part of the village that the minute you step up to the top of the hillside you’re technically outside of the Cumiere’s appellation. 

With his ‘Cumiere Rouge’ is all Pinot Noir from the heart of the hillside. Left completely the whole cluster, foot read and left to macerate for two weeks. Raised in a mixture of new-and-old wood for almost two years before being bottled. The result is special. A woodsy, sumptuously fruited wine that is as much about Cumiere’s sunshine as it about its forested perimeters. And texturally phenolic enough to spend over a decade cellaring. 

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