Piper-Heidsieck launches a rosé prestige cuvée

Champagne house Piper-Heidsieck launched the rosé expression of its popular prestige cuvée Rare in London last night – debuting with the tricky 2007 vintage.

Sunlight through stained glass: Piper-Heidsieck Rare Rosé 2007

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.