SHAMINI KRISHNAN

Sommelier of 1880

Georges Laval Cumières Brut Nature NV:

Only 5,000 bottles per year are produced and one of the world’s best restaurants, Noma, selected Georges Laval as their favourite champagne. This bright green-gold bubbly has aromas of quince compote, white peach, Williams pear, brioche, wild grasses and beautiful minerality. On the palate, it has good minerality, a nutty flavour and a creamy elegance, with excellent balance and persistence. The tiny, impeccably run estate in Cumières is known only to a select few connoisseurs of champagne. The deeprooted family-owned property dates back to 1694. Vincent Laval took over from his father, Georges, and still makes the champagne in the exact same way.

All his wines are unchaptalised (no sugar added) and vinified in cask. Every year, he makes only 10,000 bottles. Since 1971, the family has farmed organically, so the earth on his plot has lots of live worms and insects—organic farming at its best. Vincent also claims that no compost has been used for years and that winemakers should grow grapes to what the terrain has been blessed with; this reflects heavily in his champagne.