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.
