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  • Country ranking ?

    868
  • Producer ranking ?

    10
  • Decanting time

    20min
  • When to drink

    now - 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Seafood, Salads & Consommes

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PIPER-HEIDSIECK LAUNCHES A ROSÉ PRESTIGE CUVÉE

Piper-Heidsieck Rare Rosé 2007 was officially launched at a lavish bash in Paris in September that featured a banquet in the gardens of the Musée Albert-Khan.

Piper-Heidsieck Rare Rosé 2007

Made with 56% Chardonnay and 44% Pinot Noir and aged on its lees for eight years, the fizz boasts a fruit forward nose of strawberries, raspberries, and red currants, in addition to Oriental spices, lychee and tea aromas.

The Champagne includes “over 15%” of still red wine from Les Riceys in the Côte des Bar, which is perhaps what gives it its deep copper colour.

Speaking to the drinks business during the London launch of Rare Rosé 2007 last night, Piper-Heidsieck’s chef de cave Regis Camus said:

“I’ve been thinking about making a Rare rosé expression since 2002 but had to wait for the right vintage, which was 2007.

“Colour is very important with rosé and is hard to maintain over time – I wanted it to look like sunlight through stained glass.

“In actual fact, 2007 was a chaotic year for Champagne – not a lot of wine was made that year as the vintage was very up and down. It was audacious of me to decide to declare a vintage that year but we were very happy with what we made.”

Just 1,200 bottles of Rare Rosé 2007 have gone on sale at luxury retailers around the world. In the UK it is available at Harrods and Hedonism Wines with an rrp of £325.

Camus revealed to db that he already has more than one vintage in mind for future Rare Rosé releases and that the next standard Rare release after the current 2002 vintage would be 2006.

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The Story

The noble origin of Rare Champagne dates back to a tribute to Marie-Antoinette and expresses its revolutionary spirit fight against the trivialisation of vintages.

Over the last forty years, Rare Champagne has only declared eleven vintages, the most demanding in Champagne, all in limited production.

Since 1976, the House has only released 9 vintages of Rare: 1976, 1979,1985, 1988, 1990, 1998 en Magnum, 1999, 2002, 2004 and now 2008,” says Régis Camus, chef de caves and chief winemaker at Maison Piper-Heidsieck. “Piper-Heidsieck Rare 2002 was my first Rare vintage so I am particularly honoured to hear that it has been selected as the number one champagne in the world by FINE Champagne Magazine.”

 

Each Rare Millésime is born from the struggle with nature. For instance, Rare Millésime 1976 was created after an exceptional drought, Rare Millésime 1985 following a terrible black frost.

As the guardian of the Rare Champagne style, Régis Camus the most awarded Cellar Master of the century*, selects the vineyards according to their expression rather than their rank in the scale of Premiers and Grand Crus. This uncommon blending approach contributes to the complex, distinguished, and yet pure style of Rare Champagne.

In honour of the occasion, Pierre-Karl Fabergé, jeweller to the Czar Alexander III, designed a spectacular enamelled bottle. Unfortunately, it was impossible to reproduce this decor with the techniques of the time. A label with a faithful reproduction of the design was therefore placed on the bottles of this exclusive edition.

In the 18th century, Florens-Louis Heidsieck presented his very first prestige Cuvée, ‘worthy of a Queen’, to Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France, in a characteristically aristocratic bottle: the Pinte Majeure.
In those days, glass blowers made by hand the most precious bottles of Champagne, intended for the aristocracy. Thus, the asymmetrical shoulders of the bottle emphasize its singular personality.
Rare Champagne modernized the original shape and added a golden lacy crown that asserts the radiance of the wine.
Black and gold, it truly contains a charismatic gem. Black symbolizes the dominant Pinot Noir grapes while gold represents the luminous shine of Chardonnay.
Thanks to its long elegant neck, a unique whisper rises while serving.
Today, the soft curves of the design pay tribute to Marie-Antoinette, the first modern icon, famous for her ability to set new standards.

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Vintage 2007

An unusually warm spring led to early flowering and initial optimism, which soon gave way to disappointment following one of the murkiest summers on record. Overall, 2007 was a difficult vintage saved by last-minute sunshine in late-August. Mildew and rot were the main culprits of the harvest, and the level of gluconic acid rocketed. The harvest began early, on August 24th, and was abundant in volume averaging 14,242 kg/ha. Pinot Meunier posed the biggest problems and Chardonnay clearly outperformed the rest. Many of the iconic prestige cuvée blanc de blancs were successfully produced, such as Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, Ruinart Dom Ruinart, Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Louis and Salon Le Mesnil. Some blended prestige cuvées such as Louis Roederer Cristal and Philipponnat Clos des Goisses were also made. Champagnes from 2007 are typically high in acidity and restrainedly classic in style, but lack the spine and strength of the greatest harvest years. Even if the vintage only receives three stars, its best Chardonnays are well worth seeking and storing.

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

The salmon colored 2007 Rosé Millesimé Rare has a clear, fresh, slightly oaky-nougat and pretty vinous bouquet. It is a rich and slightly sweetish yet pure, refined, elegant and well-structured Rosé Champagne with good grip and tension as well as a long, intensely aromatic and powerful finish. This is great and enormously complex Champagne with an extraordinary, complex finish. The 2007 is based on 56% Chardonnay and 44% Pinot Noir. Tasted in November 2017.

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Information

Origin

Reims, Champagne

Other wines from this producer

Brut Florens Louis

Brut Rosé

Cuvée Brut

Cuvée Florens-Louis

Cuvée Sublime

Essentiel Blanc de Blancs Brut

Essentiel Blanc de Blancs extra brut

Essentiel Cuvée Brut

Essentiel Cuvée Réservée Brut

Heidsieck Monopole Blue Top Brut

Hors-Série

Piper-Heidsieck Brut Sauvage

Rare

Rosé Sauvage

Vintage

Inside Information

Last year, Piper-Heidsieck unveiled their first rosé expression of the famed prestige cuvée Piper-Heidsieck Rare. Appropriately, production was small and this champagne is a consequent rarity, with just 150 bottles initially released in the UK. We met with head winemaker Régis Camus to taste the brand new champagne, Piper-Heidsieck Rare Rosé 2007, sample some older vintages of the blanc counterpart and discuss another upcoming UK launch.

Régis began with an overview of the 2007 growing season. Acknowledging that they hadn’t selected an easy year to be the first Rare Rosé vintage, he described it as an “unusual year for the vineyard, with extremely early growth which then suffered a period of cold weather.” Whilst it was an average season for Chardonnay, fortunately the strength of the Pinot Noir made a vintage possible, although the blending decision was a difficult one. “We spent several years reflecting on the selection of grape varieties that would be best suited to the rosé version of our prestige cuvée,” Régis commented.

After eight years in the cellars – the same time as the blanc equivalent – it has developed an impressive richness and luscious fruit-driven character. Intriguing flavours of exotic herbs, vanilla and a delightfully spicy finish are the mark of the champagne, an astonishing first attempt at a prestige cuvée rosé that is sure to develop layers of complexity with time. Fittingly, each bottle is presented in an individually numbered box made of lacquered black wood and rose gold metal.

The next Piper-Heidsieck champagne to hit the UK market is Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel Cuvée Réservée NV. Produced for the first time in 2008, this has previously been exclusive to the French market, but will be coming to the UK this year. Régis explained that the concept behind Essentiel Cuvée is to take the finished Brut NV blend, keep it on the lees for 12-18 months longer than the Brut NV and use a lower dosage – just 5 g/l compared to the Brut’s 9-10 g/l. The resulting extra-aged extra brut champagne is “the pure expression of Piper-Heidsieck style: a structured, crisp and ardent wine,” according to Régis. The example we tasted was served from magnum and based on the 2012 vintage. In an attempt to highlight the unique character of Essentiel, Piper-Heidsieck have displayed addition information on the back label including disgorgement and cellaring dates to communicate the extra level of winemaking detail – a move they have replicated across their range.

The Piper-Heidsieck range tasted with Regis…

We also tasted some very old vintages of Piper-Heidsieck Rare, of which there have only been seven since the first release: 1976. Alongside stunning examples from 1979 and 1988, we sampled Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Rare NV. Misleadingly, this was technically Rare 1997 and represents Piper-Heidsieck’s foray back into producing prestige-cuvées after a ten year absence. During the period of the late 1980s and early 1990s Piper-Heidsieck was part of the Rémy-Cointreau group, alongside Krug. In an attempt to prevent competing champagnes impacting the prestige image of Krug, other champagne houses in the Rémy-Cointreau group were prohibited from making prestige-cuvée blends. When Krug was sold to LVHM, Régis asked to get Piper-Heidsieck back into the prestige cuvée market and Cuvée Rare NV (or 1997) was the first step.

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