Georges Laval

Georges Laval is a grower estate in Cumières, on the right bank of the Marne, about 4 km from Épernay. The Laval family has been in the village since 1694. Georges Laval began bottling under his own name in 1971. His son Vincent took over in 1996 and works with his wife and two employees.

The estate is small. The vineyard covers 2.5 to 3.5 hectares, and output is about 20,000 bottles a year. Most parcels are in Cumières, with further plots in Chambrecy in the Ardre Valley, Damery and Hautvillers. Named sites include Les Chênes, Les Hautes Chèvres and Les Longues Violes. Cumières has a chalk subsoil. Les Chênes sits on thin clay and silt over chalk, Les Hautes Chèvres on clay-limestone.

The vineyards are certified organic by Ecocert. Soils are ploughed, grass is mown, compost is the only fertiliser, and the work is done by hand. Grapes are picked by hand and pressed in traditional presses. Fermentation takes place in oak barrels with indigenous yeasts. There is no chaptalisation, fining, filtration or cold stabilisation. Total sulphur is generally below 20 mg/L. The wines are riddled by hand. Nearly the whole range is Brut Nature, with no dosage. The exceptions use organic grape sugar.

Laval makes two kinds of wine. Terroir wines come from single parcels, for example the Cumières cuvée. Blended wines combine vintages and sites. Les Garennes is the blended cuvée.

Les Garennes uses all three Champagne varieties from several villages, with barrel-aged wines of between one and twenty years. The dosage is 1 g/L.