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.
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.
Maison Piper-Heidsieck launches its first new champagne in quite some years and this range “Hors-Série” will see the Maison launch a series of new champagnes each autumn, sometimes looking back into their library and re-releasing an old vintage to potentially something from a new vintage.
This first release takes us back fifty years, to the golden age of pop, with a 1971 vintage. There is purpose in the Maison’s story-telling, at the release tasting they provided me with a classic LP from 1971, a gesture to something old (in my case I received the album Who’s Next by The Who, released in 1971!) yet with time classic songs still have a freshness and that is the story of the Piper-Heidsieck Hors-Série 1971.
The design influence: “Obviously, each bottle over the decades has followed its own route and presents unique characteristics. This is what the house wanted to express in the choice of the box, developed by a Breton craftsman, and hollowed out of pieces of raw oak, which makes them all different, nature having drawn specific characteristics on each. The frieze that adorns the pedestal with its pretty monogram evokes the world of pop, as does the typography chosen on the label which refers to the tracks of old vinyl records. It is true that 1971 had been rich in musical releases. 1968 had unleashed the wildest hopes and artists believed in universal peace. John Lennon sang “Imagine”.
Weather: The 1971 vintage was significantly influenced by the previous year, in 1970 the yields were very large and as often happens in the following year of 1971 the yields were much smaller. The winter from 1970 to 1971 was long and cold with spring frosts during April causing some damage to the vines. The cool weather pushed back flowering til later June. July and through August the weather warmed often with very hot days causing some localised hailstorms. Sept was dry and warm and ripening happened normally with harvest beginning on 18th September. The smaller number of bunches on the vine resulted in great concentration of flavour in the grapes.
Technical Information:
Vineyards: 12 crus| Chardonnay - Côte des Blancs | Pinot-Noir - Mostly Verzy in the Montagne de Reims
Grape Varieties: 50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir
Lees ageing: 50 years
Disgorged: Feb 2021
Bottling: 26 through 30 July 1972
Dosage: 10 g/l
pH: 3.0
Total acidity: 9 g/l
Bars pressure: 3.5-4.0
Production: 2021 bottles
Tasting Note:Richly coloured that deep marmalade orange, a nice “hiss” on the opening and the bubbles just gently prickle on the side of the glass. The fruit has energy, there is fresh citrus, twist of ginger, white pepper, pink grapefruit and rich dried orange, the palate is all these fruits and yet more unctuous some tropical notes like pineapple, lychee, dark chocolate, bitter tangerine, roasted cashews and hints of dried lime. This is really unctuous and rich and the dosage sits seamlessly, there is plenty of acidity and a saline finish that lifts up the freshness on the end of the palate. Majestic! When you re- taste it you can see the precision, it is amazing a 50 year old champagne in bottle is so fresh and thoroughly enjoyable. As you taste the champagne it gives this wonderful sensation, its races across the palate and has staying power, incredible length. I don’t believe there is a better 50 year champagne currently on the market!
You can see the new release of Hors-Serie 1982 here
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
19+/20
Nick Baker TFB Founder
“"Richly coloured that deep marmalade orange, a nice “hiss” on the opening and the bubbles just gently prickle on the side of the glass. The fruit has energy, there is fresh citrus, twist of ginger, white pepper, pink grapefruit and rich dried orange, the palate is all these fruits and yet more unctuous some tropical notes like pineapple, lychee, dark chocolate, bitter tangerine, roasted cashews and hints of dried lime. This is really unctuous and rich and the dosage sits seamlessly, there is plenty of acidity and a saline finish that lifts up the freshness on the end of the palate. Majestic! When you re- taste it you can see the precision, it is amazing a 50 year old champagne in bottle is so fresh and thoroughly enjoyable. As you taste the champagne it gives this wonderful sensation, its races across the palate and has staying power, incredible length. I don’t believe there is a better 50 year champagne currently on the market!"”
97/100
Anne Krebiehl MW
““Deep golden and bright. The nose has white pepper and duxelles of field mushroom pervaded by lemon zest and candied lemon peel. The citrus element is taking over on the palate with candied orange and tangerine peel, the body has inherent gentleness and smoothest mousse. The lemon freshness streams from a profound core of rich, citric chalkiness with that candied peel radiating its aromatic richness that combines Demerara sugar and sea salt. That gorgeous fresh field mushroom earthiness with its peppery verve remains a firm feature and shows the racy and sleek side of this gorgeous treasure. Endless length.””
94 → 94/100
Essi Avellan MW
“First in the series of one-off cuvees, Hors-Serie 1971 is the joint accomplishment of three chefs de caves, Claude Demiere making it, Daniel Thibaut and Regis Camus deciding to keep significant amounts of it, and finally Emilien Boutillat disgorging and dosing it. A wine of this age has bottle variation, thus every one of the 2021 numbered bottles was tasted and individually approved. Still, each of them is individual. We tasted two bottles, which according to Emilien represent the two extremes of the Hors-Serie 1971 galaxy. One of them was so surprisingly youthful and fresh coming with impressive toasty, ginger and ground coffee complexity. It still had plenty of even fresh fruit to it with lemon highlighted on the zingy back palate. Really elegant and seamless, taking brilliantly time in glass. The other bottle showed much more maturity, with charred and spicy elements dominating over dried fruit, orange confit, black tea and almond notes. Winey yet briskly acidic with the wine’s no-malo character singing loud. 94 points for the first bottle, 90 for the second.”
93/100
William Kelley
“Disgorged in spring 2021 with 10 grams per litre dosage, the 1971 Brut Millésimé Hors-Série is showing well, offering up a rich bouquet of praline, mocha, buttery pastry, dried fruits and honeycomb, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy palate with lively acids and a delicate pinpoint mousse. Concluding with a sapid, even savoury finish, it represents a fine effort in a good-but-not-great Champagne vintage. At this age, of course, some bottle variation is to be expected.”
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.
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.
