Grand Siècle: the story behind this unique prestige cuvée in Champagne

Grand Siècle was created by my grandfather, Bernard de Nonancourt, in 1959. His will was to elaborate something unique, something different from the other Champagne Houses.

He was such a young man at the time, coming back from the second world war where he fought in the Resistance for the General de Gaulle. At his return, he put all his energy and innovative spirit into a very small Champagne House bought by his mother: Laurent-Perrier.

He had to build everything from scratch.. And his first move was to elaborate a very distinctive prestige cuvée in order to raise Laurent-Perrier to one of the most recognized Houses.

In Champagne, prestige cuvées are all vintage cuvées. But the conviction of my grandfather was different. For him, only the art of blending can reach what a great vintage cannot: recreating the perfect year. Based on experience and the observation of the Nature, the perfect year is an ideal balance between the characteristics of the greatest vintages in Champagne: Structure, Freshness, and Finesse.

This is how, in 1959 was launched the very first Iteration of Grand Siècle, a blend of 3 exceptional vintages of 1952, 1953 and 1955. Grand Siècle is a Prestige Cuvée that is different from the others; its concept is unique: it is the only Prestige Cuvée in Champagne based on the blend and not the vintage. In 65 years, only 24 Iterations have been released compared to the 45 vintages declared in Champagne.

If you liked this article, please share it or simply like it! If I see your interest, there will be another article about the know-how behind Grand Siècle and its Iterations...