Launch of the Piper Heidsieck Essentiel Cuvée Reservée
Piper Heidsieck have just launched their latest cuvée, the Essentiel Cuvée Reservée Extra Brut. Last week I and a small group of wine bloggers dined with Regis Camus, the chef de cave of Piper in Central London over various bottles and vintages of Piper Heidsieck.
Chef de Cave Piper Heidsieck Regis Camus and The Winesleuth
Regis was in town to promote their newest cuvée, the Essentiel Cuvée Reservée. It came about because Regis wanted to make an extra-brut and this cuvée has only 5 grams/litre. While it’s not exactly zero dosage, Regis feels that he has achieved just the right balance. He made this wine for connoisseurs of non-vintage champagne and although this one has a base wine of 2011, he also blends in reserve wines that are up to 5 years old. It was disgorged a year ago so it has had time to settle down in the bottle.
The result is a very clean and pure wine with a touch of salinity on the palate. I really enjoyed this wine and paired with truffled goats cheese and beetroot, it was an absolute delight!
The 2008 Piper-Heidsieck Vintage 2008 was served at dinner along with the Rosé Sauvage. The 2008 is still very fresh with a clean mineral palate along with ripe fruit flavours lurking in the background. Nicely balanced and very good with the chicken breast I had opted to have for dinner.
The Rosé Sauvage is not a subtle rosé – it certainly does live up to it’s name, sauvage. Regis said this is one of the most difficult to make as he has to achieve consistency every year. The Sauvage we had was from the 2008 vintage and had about 20% pinot noir in the blend. Regis said it was a picture of precision. Full of raspberry and blood orange flavours, it’s a full bodied rosé and pairs well with dishes like lamb or chicken or even Japanese cuisine.
We finished off dinner with demi-sec, the Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Sublime. Having between 35 to 40 grams/litre, this wine had just the right amount of sweetness to pair with the cheese plate I had. I like demi-secs and this one had just the right balance of acidity to keep it from becoming cloying on the palate.
