Laurent Godard speaks of his family as a clan. His great-grandparents met by chance, fell in love and bought a small plot of land in 1920. This was planted to vines shortly thereafter with the family’s vineyard holdings expanding slightly with each subsequent generation. Laurent himself took over the vineyards in the 1980s and has been focused on producing exceptional Champagne since then.

Mannaz is an homage to his clan and serves as their house cuvée. It is a blend of 34% pinot meunier, 24% chardonnay and 20% pinot noir. About a fifth of the blend is drawn from reserve wines to keep the house style consistent every year. This is a fuller style of brut with baked apples, figs and honey on the nose. The savoury backbone lends well to pairing with earthy dishes such as mushrooms and duck. That fancy lunch just got fancier.