Winemaker Notes
Its golden robe recalls the sun’s glints gleaming over the Mediterranean Sea. The golden, crystalline bubbles of this lush vintage glow in the glass. The initial nose delivers fresh citrus notes of lime or tangerine leaves, reminiscent of a summer on the Mediterranean shores. Its solar accents are then enhanced by warm, smoked notes. A touch of almond then offers a voluptuous, vivid vibrancy. Notes of pomegranate and almond open with the expression of a plush texture of smoked tea or freshly harvested honey, the juice of ripe black cherry and blueberries.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Chef de cave Emilien Boutillat supervised the sourcing of grapes for the 2012 from 12 different plots, two-thirds of which are designated as either premier cru or grand cru. In this vintage, the blend is made up of slightly more than half Pinot Noir with Chardonnay and 8g/L dosage. Simon Field MW: An accomplished, rigorous blend; persistent, complete and impressive length – nougat, lemongrass, finely etched finish. Alan Bednarski: Candied lemons and blueberry pie with some sweet citrus candies, the dosage leaving a touch of sweetness on the finish. Tim Hall: A creamy overlay to the citrus start. A cool continuation of fern and green forest and a good pure texture, too.
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Jasper Morris
Piper’s much improved vintage wine continues its run of form. A mid-weight Champagne, with deliciously toasty and lightly honeyed orchard fruits sitting on the mid-palate. Nice acidity invigorates the palate with an injection of energy and adds poise on the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Based on 52% Pinot Noir and 48% Chardonnay, with 10 grams of dosage, the 2012 Champagne offers a beautifully layered, rich style with loads of brioche and orchard fruits, medium-bodied richness and depth, good acidity, and a clean finish. It's a layered, pure, classic Champagne that’s well worth seeking out. It’s a solid step up over the Cuvée Brut.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Unfurling in the glass with incipiently complex aromas of citrus oil, wheat toast, fresh peach and crisp orchard fruit, the newly released 2012 Vintage Brut is full-bodied, deep and tightly wound, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a fine mousse, concluding with a long and penetrating finish. Even though it's still a little reserved after its recent disgorgement,
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Wine Enthusiast
A vintage wine, this hints of maturity while preserving a fresh core of balanced fruit and texture. Almost equally balanced between Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the wine brings together structure and minerality to sustain the fruit. Drink this Champagne from 2021.
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Wine Spectator
A crowd-pleasing example, showing overall balance and integration, with lightly mouthwatering acidity and a creamy texture married to an appealing mix of white cherry, almond biscotti, lemon curd and anise flavors. A lovely streak of spicy minerality drives the long finish. Drink now through 2027.
The Most Awarded Champagne House of the Century
Steeped in history, innovation and excellence have been at the heart of Piper-Heidsieck since 1785 when Florens-Louis Heidsieck founded his Champagne House with the dream to create a ‘cuveé worthy of a queen’. That dream was realized when he boldly presented his first cuvee to Queen Marie Antoinette and she declared love at first sip. She quickly became the champagne’s first brand ambassador and when Henri-Guillaume Piper joined the Reims venture in 1815, he and Florens-Louis’ nephew Christian Heidsieck set out to promote the Champagne House’s reputation well beyond the borders of France. Today, Piper-Heidsieck is poured in over 100 countries and is the most awarded Champagne House of the century, with over 275 medals*.
Piper-Heidsieck’s worldwide success is attributed to the passion and expertise of its chief winemakers. Cellar Master, Émilien Boutillat, the youngest chef de cave to lead winemaking for a major Champagne House, continues the House’s uncompromising commitment to wine excellence. Devoted to protecting the terroir of Champagne through sustainable viticulture, Piper-Heidsieck is proud to hold dual certifications for its vineyards; Viticulture Durable en Champagne and Haute Valeur Environnementale Fruit is also sourced from like-minded winegrower partners representing 319 crus throughout the Champagne region. Concentrated in Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, Cote des Blancs and Cote des Bar, these winegrowers are committed to implementing increasingly stringent environmentally friendly practices in the vineyard by reducing the use of chemicals, improving biodiversity, dry farming and energy and waste management.
Since Queen Marie Antoinette and Royal Warrant Appointments from 14 royal and imperial courts, Piper-Heidsieck has been universally sought out by high society, to include Hollywood’s rich and famous. Making its Hollywood debut appearance in the Laurel and Hardy motion picture, “Sons of the Desert” , Piper-Heidsieck has played best supporting actor to A-list stars from Clark Gable to Marilyn Monroe, who has been quoted, “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”. Piper-Heidsieck’s red carpet reputation is world-renown at film festivals across the globe, and it is also the official sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Awards. The House remains committed to cinematic art and the preservation of cinematographic heritage and is currently a patron of the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and a partner of the Cinematheque Francaise.
*Régis Camus, then Chief Winemaker of Piper-Heidsieck, received the prestigious title of “Sparkling Winemaker of the Year”, awarded by the International Wine Challenge jury, eight times since the beginning of the century.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’