Champagne Piper-Heidsieck Millésimé Brut 2018

The “art of the blend” has made Piper-Heidsieck one of the most consistently excellent producers of Champagne, taking top-notch fruit and making it shine. The house has vast holdings of its own, in precious plots from the Montagne de Reims down to the Côte des Bar, while also purchasing fruit from top growers across the whole of the region. For this top cuvée, 16 different Crus, including several Grand Premier Crus, are carefully selected to craft one extraordinary blend. The wine is made up of 50% Chardonnay, 47% Pinot Noir, and the rest a splash of Meunier. More than 50 months on the lees, with a perfectly balanced 7 grams per liter dosage, this 2018 vintage is creamy and concentrated – with a nevertheless mouthwatering acidity that carries all into an impressively lengthy finish.

Right into the glass, this brilliant golden wine retains a consistent perlage, with a stable mousse. The initial aromas are nutty and toasty, with a warm and encompassing leesy quality, uplifted by accents of fresh-baked bread, red apples, toasted almonds, and grape soda. The attack on the palate is broad and energetic, with a blackberry and black cherry core – accented by flint and crumbled chalk minerality. This is classy, balanced, and polished – and perhaps most remarkably, there is the sense that this wine is not quite mature. Time in the glass confirms my initial suspicions. Even deeper complexity and richness build over time, with layer after layer of flavors and textures unfolding like flower petals.

Piper-Heidsieck is one of Champagne’s oldest houses, with a founding date back in 1785. Just prior, it was Florens-Louis Heidsieck, a German immigrant, who first discovered and fell in love with Champagne in 1777. It became his dream to craft and share his passion with the world, and he soon found his first patron, and unofficial brand ambassador, in the court of Versailles. Marie-Antoinette became enthralled with Florens’ “cuvee fit for a queen,” and her love of the wine solidified the House’s status as a top producer in Champagne. The estate landed in Reims, one block off the star-studded Avenue de Champagne, and for over 200 years, the bubbles have kept flowing.

This Millésimé Brut 2018 is truly an exciting vintage Champagne from a masterful, historic house! We don’t have much – and at just $65, it’s a worthwhile bottling to take home and cherish!