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 added 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 Rare is a truly unique prestige cuvée. In the summer of 1976, an unprecedented heatwave struck France, the likes of which the Champagne region had never experienced before. Piper-Heidsieck's winemaking team began to wonder: could it be possible to create a cuvée given the remarkable conditions? Taming the natural forces was no easy task and when assemblage was complete and the final blend bottled, the team were so proud of the final product, they called it Rare. The brand started as Piper-Heidsieck Rare and in 2019 this became simply Rare. These cuvées are only produced in these exceptional years: 1976, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2013. In 2018 a new rose cuvee was released with 2007, now followed with 2008 and 2012.

Weather: 2013 was characterised by a particularly late growing cycle. The never-ending winter was followed by a very cool, late spring. we had to wait until the start of July for flowering to begin – something we hadn’t seen in Champagne for quite some time! Fortunately, summer was glorious with plenty of sunshine, record temperatures and very low rainfall, ideal for the ripening of the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. the temperatures were cool for the October harvest and the resulting wines are elegant and fresh – the signs of a "classic" vintage.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 14 Crus - 79% Grand Cru & 21% Premier Cru | Chardonnay: Avize, Oger, Villers-Marmery, Vaudemanges, Verzy, Ambonnay, Chouilly & Montgueux | Pinot Noir: Verzy, Verzenay, Ambonnay, Bouzy & Tauxieres.
Grape Varieties: 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir
Lees Ageing: 8 years
Dosage: 9 g/l
Disgorged: Spring 2022
Drink: Now to 2035+

Tasting Note: The 2013 vintage is so very Rare, so pure. True to the classical Rare recipe its Chardonnay origins include a luxurious amount of Villers-Marmery and Côte de Blancs Grand Cru fruit, without forgetting the all-important ‘spice’ of Montgueux. The Pinot Noir mix plays with the cool verticality of Verzy and Verzenay, but on a crisp year like this more generosity was lent from for example plush Ambonnay and Bouzy fruit. Intense, shiny bright lemon-green colour. Tasted by Essi Avellan MW