Laurent-Perrier

Laurent-Perrier

Type	Société Anonyme
Traded as	Euronext: LPE
Industry	Winery
Genre	French winery
Founded	1812; 205 years ago (1812)
Founder	Alphonse Pierlot
Headquarters	Domaine Laurent-Perrier 51150 Tours-sur-Marne France
Area served	Worldwide
Products	French wine
Revenue	€197.8 million (2010)
Operating income	€32.7 million (2010)
Net income	€14.8 million (2010)
Number of employees	446 (2010)
Website	www.laurent-perrier.com

Laurent-Perrier (pronounced [lɔ.ʁɑ̃ pɛ.ʁje]) is a Champagne house founded in 1812 and is the main company of the Laurent-Perrier Group, whose other flagship brands include the houses of Salon, De Castellane and Delamotte. Laurent-Perrier Group also acquired Chateau Malakoff as of 2004. With over 1,200 grape growers with supply contracts, Laurent-Perrier exports to more than 120 countries.

Laurent-Perrier rose to become one of the world's best selling champagne brands as of 2005, behind only Moët et Chandon and Veuve Clicquot respectively.

Laurent-Perrier traces its foundation to 1812 when a former cooper and bottler by the name of Alphonse Pierlot purchased two parcels of land named "Plaisances" and "La Tour Glorieux" in Tours-sur-Marne. Pierlot willed his company to his cellar master, Eugene Laurent, who ran it with his wife, Mathilde Emilie Perrier. After Eugene Laurent died in 1887 his widow, Mathilde, took control and attached her name to the company, changing it to Veuve Laurent-Perrier (veuve being the French word for widow). Veuve Mathilde led the company to great success, producing 50,000 cases of Champagne. This success was short-lived, due to the outbreak of World War I and the disruption it brought to all of France and French business. Following this catastrophe, Veuve Mathilde hired Alexander Fletcher Keith Mackenzie to introduce and market Laurent-Perrier in the United Kingdom. In 1925 Veuve Mathilde died, leaving the company to Eugenie Hortense Laurent. Due to the setbacks from World War I and the imminent outbreak of World War II, Eugenie sold the company to Mary-Louise Lanson de Nonancourt in 1939. Marie-Louise invested all she could in the company, keeping it afloat through the turmoils of war, at one point mortgaging 1,000 cases of Champagne she had hidden in a wall. Her eldest son, Maurice, died during the war in the concentration camp at Oranienburg leaving his younger brother, Bernard de Nonancourt, as the heir apparent. Upon Bernard's return from war, his mother began set about educating him on every aspect of Champagne making at the Houses of Lanson and Delamotte. In 1949 Bernard de Nonancourt became the owner of the company and saw it become one of the largest family-owned Champagne houses. The de Nonancourt family still retains majority ownership of the company to this day.