VincentLaval(GeorgesLaval)CumieresPreimierCruRougeCoteauxChampenois,Champagne,France2022

<p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p>