Average rating 4.9/5 stars across all Google and external reviews
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Bought directly from Liberty Wines, UK agent for Piper-Heidsieck, the bottles are stored in bond at London City Bond Eton Park, in ideal conditions at a constant 13°C. For same-day deliveries, small quantities are kept in our office cellar, where the temperature is maintained between 11–13°C. We source all our bottles directly from the Maison or their official UK office, eliminating the risk of poor storage. This is crucial, as champagne quality is highly sensitive to heat: temperatures above 18°C accelerate maturity significantly, which compromises quality.
Bottles Available:
1 × 75cl - 43 from 20th Aug We keep some stock in our London Warehouse. Large volumes take 24 hours from our out of London warehouse.
Piper-Heidsieck's roots trace back to Florens-Louis Heidsieck, who created the original company of Heidsieck & Co. Christian Heidsieck joined the venture alongside Guillaume Piper and once Florens-Louis died in 1828, the duo decided to continue the adventure side by side, founding Champagne Piper-Heidsieck.
In 2011 both Charles Heidsieck and Piper-Heidsieck were bought by EPI Group headed by Christopher Descours, he has pumped significant finance into the companies allowing them to grow their vineyard holdings, grape purchasing and production. The brands are now growing their sales fast after many decades of decline. Today, production occurs alongside sister company Charles Heidsieck in an ultra-modern functional wine-making facility on the southern outskirts of Reims. Their characteristics differ quite considerably, with Piper opting for a fruitier and lighter style of base wines.
Piper-Heidsieck Vintage is not a predefined recipe, each vintage and each blend is unique, as Régis Camus says "This freedom reflects the exceptional" The blends are selected from upwards of 18 different Premier and Grand Crus. Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims give the structure and the Chardonnay from la Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims expresses the elegance and charm of the vintage.
Weather: After a rainy but mild winter without any prolonged cold spells, spring arrived with some very localised frosts. Cool weather returned in June and the infrequent sunshine prolonged the feeling of freshness. The spring to autumn weather was bright with sunny spells and the long, hot days and cool nights during September gave the grapes excellent acidity during the harvest period. The 2008 vintage is fast emerging as one of the best since the renowned and now-legendary 2002.
Wine Competition Trophies:
The Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships 2017 - World Champion Vintage Brut Blend
Technical Information:
Vineyards: Grand Cru, Premier Cru | Chardonnay: Côte des Blancs, Montagne de Reims | Pinot Noir: Montagne de Reims
Grape Varieties: 52% Chardonnay, 48% Pinot Noir
Ageing: 8 years on the lees
Dosage: 9.5 g/l
Cork: Mytik Diam Technological
Drink: Now to 2030
Tasting Note:A lush golden hue with a fine bead of bubbles. Initially delicate notes on the palate give way to a ripe fruit freshness. Citrus and plums right through to the long finish.
Champagne Piper-Heidsieck began with Florens-Louis Heidsieck, who created the original company of Heidsieck & Co in 1785. Originally his idea was to “create a cuvée worthy of a queen” and once Marie Antoinette had tasted his creation his dream was realised, as she became the first Heidsieck & Co ambassador. In 1815, Florens-Louis’ nephew, Christian Heidsieck joined the company alongside Henri-Guillaume Piper and upon Florens-Louis’ death in 1828, the duo decided to continue the adventure side by side, forming Champagne Piper-Heidsieck.
The House went from strength to strength during the 1800s, according the privilege of royal warrant holder from no less than fourteen royal and imperial courts, some as far afield as China. A milestone was reached in 1885 and to celebrate Piper-Heidsieck’s centennial, Pierre Karl Fabergé - star jeweller of Russian Tsar Alexander III - designed a bottle adorned with gold, diamonds and lapis lazuli. This marked the beginning of a partnership between the House and the world’s greatest jewellers and the ornate design is still seen on bottles of Piper-Heidsieck’s prestige cuvée Rare today.
This success continued throughout the 20th Century, which saw Piper-Heidsieck become Hollywood’s champagne of choice. Indeed, the legendary Marilyn Monroe famously declared in 1953: “I go to bed with a few drops of Chanel No. 5 and I wake up each morning to a glass of Piper-Heidsieck; it warms me up.”
Today, the winemaking team is led by Cellar Master Régis Camus, who has been with the House since 1994. The signature of Piper-Heidsieck champagne has always been their preference for Pinot Noir, accounting for the balanced, structured and powerful style for which their blends are famed. Their prestige cuvée, Rare, was first produced in 1976 when an unprecedented heat wave struck the region. Following the philosophy that an extraordinary event should produce an extraordinary cuvée, Rare vintages are only declared in years “where Nature unleashes its forces”.
Always striving for innovation and progression, Piper-Heidsieck opened their impressive modern winery with over 200 stainless steel wine vats in 1995 and their newly designed contemporary headquarters were revealed in 2008.
Chef de Cave History at Champagne Piper-Heidsieck:
Cellar Master: Émilien Boutillat
Winery Location: Reims | Champagne, France
Champagne Region: Montagne de Reims
Annual Production (bottles): 8,000,000
Chef de Cave History at Champagne Piper-Heidsieck:
Émilien Boutillat - October 2018 - Current
Emilien studied at the School of Agronomy in Montpellier, focusing on both viticulture and enology. Early in his career he worked in quite a variety of winegrowing regions beyond Champagne: for example in the Rhône, Bordeaux and abroad in New Zealand, California, Chile, South Africa. He first worked for several harvests at houses like Cattier and Armand de Brignac before joining Piper‑Heidsieck in October 2018 as the chef de cave for the House. At the time of his appointment with Piper-Heidsieck in 2018 he was “the youngest chef de caves” at a large Maison in Champagne.
Regis Camus - 2002 to 2022
Regis studied in 1974 and 1975 at the Faculté d’Oenologie in Reims. After obtaining his Oenological Diploma - his first winemaking experience was in 1976 as an intern under Tutor Jacques Peters, who also helped Regis find his first job in champagne. Camus joined Piper-Heidsieck in the 1990s as assistant to Daniel Thibault, after Daniel died in 2002 Regis was promoted to manage all the winemaking team for all three brands; Piper, Rare and Charles. From 2013 Regis focussed his time on Champagne Piper-Heidsieck and Rare and since 2018 has been solely responsible for the prestige cuvée Rare and handing over to his sucessor Emilien. His meticulous winemaking has made him Sparkling Winemaker of the Year at the IWC eight times and in 2019 the CSWWC rewarded him of a Life Achievement award. Regis retired in March 2022.
Daniel Thibault - 1990-2002
Daniel came to Charles Heidseick when Joseph Henriot of Champagne Henriot purchased it in 1976. He was chef de cave at Henriot until Joseph brought him across to Charles Heidsieck shortly after buying the Maison. In 1985 Charles-Heidsieck was acquired by Rémy Cointreau from Joseph Henriot and in 1988 Rémy Cointreau also acquired Piper-Heidsieck. When Claude Demiere retired as cellar master of Piper-Heidsieck in 1990 Daniel Thibault took over managing winemaking at both Charles & Piper and at this time he hired Regis Camus as his assistant. Daniel passed away from cancer in 2002.
Claude Demiere - 1970-1990
He spent most of his career in the Piper-Heidsieck cellars, first as a worker in the 1960’s progressing through foreman and appointed chef de cave in 1970 continuing until his retirement in 1990. During his time Claude saw ownership change to Rémy Cointreau in 1985 and during the last five years of his time as cellar master he was required not to make many vintages of Champagne Rare as during this time the parent company also owned Champagne Krug. In 1990 Claude made this year and then no Rare was made until a small amount of 1997 was made, but not declared and it wasn't until 1998 that a full vintage was again made.
Expert Reviews
94 → 96/100
Essi Avellan MW
“Lovely sweetly fruity charred pastry, honey and vanilla nose with opulent toasty generosity. Rich voluptuous body which surprises with its lovely energy and nervosity. Its superb intensity promises great future potential.”
93/100
Decanter World Wine Awards
“Rich with noteworthy complexity and lovely red apple and ripe lemon fruit. Nice toastiness to the palate overlaid with nuts and brioche. ”
This week on The Friday Bubble we had a truly unique experience reviewing Piper-Heidsieck Duo: Sauvage & Hors Serie 1982 side by side with Chief Winemaker Emilien Boutillat.
This is one of my favourite “best value” champagnes in the vintage tier, you get absolute bundles in your glass.
In 2017 it won Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships “World Champion Vintage Brut Blend” which is quite an accolade.
Last year, Rare Champagne separated from parent brand Piper-Heidsieck, becoming the third champagne house of the burgeoning EPI group. We met veteran chef de cave Régis Camus at the vast premises in Reims earlier this summer to taste some treasures, both old and new.
Émilien Boutillat chose a good vintage to start his new role as Piper-Heidsieck cellar master. "The quality of the grapes was perfect all over the region," he told us. We tasted the base wines and shared a magnificent lunch paired with Rare Champagne.
Following the recent release of Rare Le Secret, the 20-year clandestine project of Rare Champagne Chef de Cave Régis Camus, we were invited to a vertical tasting of past Rare Champagne vintages - dating all the way back to 1979 - with the secretive cellar master himself.
Yesterday, Piper-Heidsieck announced the appointment of Émilien Boutillat as their new Cellar Master. Previous incumbent Séverine Frerson has joined Perrier-Jouët, where she will succeed current Cellar Master Hervé Deschamps in a few years.
Of nearly 200 champagnes tasted at The Drinks Business 2018 Champagne Masters competition, one stood out as the absolute best: Piper-Heidsieck Rare 1998. Available today in magnums only, this exceptional cuvée was awarded an average 98-points.
Earlier this year, Séverine Frerson became Cellar Master of Piper-Heidsieck, while previous incumbent Régis Camus took on a new role as Cellar Master of Rare Champagne, which is to become its own brand. Check out the first pictures of new Rare Champagne bottles here.
As with other houses, the 2017 season was a complicated one for Piper-Heidsieck. We met with current Chef de Cave Régis Camus and his deputy Séverine Frerson to taste a selection of vins clairs and hear their take on the vintage.
