Lake Zurich is just a few steps away on this Monday midday, the air still dry, and at the Wöschi, conversations have already begun. Guests are standing at the welcome reception with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Vintage 2015 in hand, while the laid tables still await the main event.

I have barely been in the room ten minutes when rain sets in outside. Not heavy, not intrusive — more as if Zurich were being drawn in softer lines for a moment. The view of the lake remains; only the contours shift.

Antonio Tortorelli opens the lunch and welcomes Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt of the Laurent-Perrier family and Edouard Cossy, Global Director Grand Siècle, who have traveled from France for the occasion. The guest list is well composed: leading sommeliers from across Switzerland, a handful of journalists, select trade partners, and many who have followed Laurent-Perrier with genuine enthusiasm for years.

At the center of the afternoon stands the launch of Grand Siècle Iteration Nº27. Alongside it, Laurent-Perrier Vintage 2015, Grand Siècle Iteration Nº26, and later Iteration Nº24 from magnum — also a Swiss premiere — are poured. The lunch becomes a small journey through the idea of Grand Siècle itself.

Perfection through assemblage: Various iterations of Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle. (Image: courtesy)

When a Single Year Is Not Enough

Champagne is a region that loves to speak of great vintages. Of years when everything seemed to align: ripeness, acidity, structure, length, aromatics, favorable weather, and that hard-to-explain moment when a wine later tells more than just the summer it came from.

Grand Siècle thinks differently. With this cuvée, Laurent-Perrier proceeds from the conviction that a single vintage is almost never truly complete. One year brings ripeness, another freshness, a third structure. The result at Grand Siècle is not a compromise but a deliberate composition.

Pereyre de Nonancourt framed this as a family story: «My grandfather was convinced: even very good vintages are never perfect. Something is always missing. That is precisely where the idea of Grand Siècle was born — to create the ideal vintage through assemblage.»

Perhaps that is the most compelling way into this cuvée. Nature gives great years, but rarely perfection. The human hand must listen, select, wait, and connect. That is the fascination of Grand Siècle.

The Nº27 and Its Three Years

For Iteration Nº27, the three years are 2015, 2013, and 2012. As Cossy explained to the attentive audience: 2015 contributes ripeness, substance, and generosity; 2013 adds freshness, precision, and drive; 2012 provides structure, energy, and length.

The Nº27 is composed of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from eight Grands Crus. The Chardonnay comes from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Avize, and Cramant; the Pinot Noir from Tours-sur-Marne, Ambonnay, Bouzy, and Verzy. That is a wide arc of origin — what matters in the end is whether the result is a wine of tension, depth, and poise.

Precise, luminous, and ripe at once: The Grand Siècle Iteration Nº27. (Image: Courtesy)

In the glass, Grand Siècle Iteration Nº27 reads as precise, luminous, and ripe at once. There is citrus, a touch of candied zest, a fine floral thread, alongside hazelnut, fresh almond, and — with some air — that pastry note which in aged Champagne is beautiful only when it does not crowd out everything else.

This Champagne has substance and maturity yet retains the freshness that is characteristic of Laurent-Perrier. With a few degrees of temperature, it becomes more complete. The fruit gains definition, the texture settles, the length sharpens. This is not a Champagne to lose ice-cold in a narrow glass. It needs space, air, and food.

The Nº27 is already impressive and should develop beautifully over the next ten to fifteen years. Those who enjoy this cuvée should not stop at a single bottle. Buy twelve, drink three over the coming years, set the rest aside — that would be no bad strategy here.

Why the Wöschi Was the Right Choice

Stephanie Ospelt and David Klocksin run a restaurant that demonstrates Michelin-starred gastronomy need not be stiff. The energy that can emerge when precision and genuine pleasure come together was palpable throughout the afternoon.

The service was attentive, the kitchen focused. Klocksin stepped out to greet the guests himself — something he does rarely. Particularly memorable was Sam in the service team: present, alert, warm, with the kind of natural ease that gives a lunch a great deal. It was clear that the people here take their profession seriously and enjoy it at the same time.

The menu was outstanding because it allowed the Champagnes to show their best. The finest pairings rarely come from a dish that wants to prove its own complexity. They come when acidity, fat, salt, texture, temperature, and aromatics are set so that the wine can reveal more. At the Wöschi, that worked. Each course gave the Champagnes room and opened new perspectives.

Accomplished pairings at the Wöschi. (Image: courtesy)

When the Magnum Changes Everything

The afternoon gained additional dimension through the comparison with Grand Siècle Iteration Nº24 from magnum. Magnums are the ideal format for aging wine — and not only Champagne.

Cossy put it plainly: «A magnum of Grand Siècle is not simply a larger format. The wine develops more slowly, needs additional time, and therefore shows a different depth and texture.»

The Nº24 from magnum draws on the vintages 2007, 2006, and 2004. At this lunch, it demonstrated the full strength of the Grand Siècle idea. Where the Nº27 brought energy, precision, and tension, the Nº24 from magnum showed a maturity that cannot be rushed.

Nº27 and Nº24 Side by Side

Placed next to each other, the two wines made the Grand Siècle concept tangible in a way that no description quite manages. The Nº27 does not replace the Nº24. It answers the same question differently: how close can Champagne come to the idea of an ideal year, when it is thought across three years?

Author Peter Jauch (r) with Edouard Cossy, Global Director Grand Siècle at Laurent-Perrier. (Image: courtesy)

That question is what makes Grand Siècle interesting. The focus is not the new iteration but the ongoing search for balance. Each release speaks of different years, different tensions, different phases of maturity. Assemblage here is not a purely technical process. It becomes a cultural achievement of Champagne.

Enjoyment Guide:

… Temperature: Do not serve ice-cold. At around 50 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 12 degrees Celsius), Grand Siècle Nº27 shows itself more fully; a few minutes in the glass do it good.
… Glass: A tulip glass or a larger white-wine glass gives the wine more room and prevents the bubbles from dominating.
… Timing: The first pour shows precision. With air comes the real depth. Drink it too quickly and you miss part of the story.
… Food: Grand Siècle belongs at the table. The wine can do more than receptions, aperitifs, and prestige moments.

Jauch's Verdict

Grand Siècle Nº27 is a Champagne with a clear relationship to time: not a vintage, but a composition drawn from three years and eight Grands Crus. In the glass it persuades through precision and substance — and should continue to open over the next decade and a half. Those who have understood the idea behind Grand Siècle rarely stop at one bottle.

«Jauch's Selection»: The biweekly finews column in which Peter Jauch precisely classifies champagne and other fine beverages and supplements them with practical service advice.