After several days of intense wine and Champagne tasting in France recently, I told everyone that I was learning about this drink called Champagne all over again. In wine school we were taught the basics of Champagne styles and how it is made; we did not learn about the soul and the passion of the Champagne producers. As we moved from producer to producer, it was most interesting to listen and learn from the different winemakers and Champagne House export managers as they extolled the virtues and very specific style difference of their wineries and each of their Champagnes. Our visit to the Champagne House of Piper-Heidsieck was no different; in fact this visit made me look at Piper in a whole new light.

History

Piper-Heidsieck was founded by Florens-Louis Heidsieck on July 16, 1785. His wines were said to have gained immediate recognition and in May of the same year, he is said to have presented his already legendary champagne to Queen Marie-Antoinette at Versailles. After he died in 1828, the business was taken over by his nephew, Christian Heidsieck, and his cousin Henri Guilaume Piper. These combined to form the Piper-Heidsieck house after Henri Piper married the widow of Christian Heidsieck in 1838. Henri travelled the world to promote and sell the wines – this led to the Heidsieck house becoming official purveyor to 14 Royal and Imperial Courts.

House Styles

The Piper-Heidsieck wines are radiant and crisp. Their distinct personality is a choice of style made by Régis Camus, Piper Heidsieck’s winemaker, who received the “Winemaker of the year” trophy at International Wine Challenge UK in 2004 and 2007. Régis has raised the wines of Piper-Heidsieck to a new level of excellence, led by a strong belief in the necessity to ensure consistency of quality.

Over the last 220 years, the spirit of the House has evolved without really changing. The “Piper” champagne style plays with freshness, vivacity and fruit. The Piper-Heidsieck wines have not only charm and drive, but also structure and precision.

Piper’s connection to Fashion and Design

When we talk of Champagne being a luxury item, its connection to haute couture becomes natural. It’s no wonder that the top producers and fashion designers are called maisons or “houses”; as a matter of fact a number of the winemakers in Champagne (aka chefs de cave) consider themselves to be artists. Champagne makers regularly join with couturiers and artists to create innovative packaging and specialty gift items, and they have commissioned artists (famous and up-and-coming) to design labels. Some have underwritten young, hip designers during Fashion Weeks. Piper perhaps began this trend and is one of the leaders. This Reims-based winemaker has sought to create an extravaganza of flavour for well over 200 years. Here are a few highlights:

From as far back as 1885, to celebrate the House’s 100th Anniversary, Piper-Heidsieck asked Carl Fabergé, the jeweller to the Russian Tsar, to create a bottle of diamonds, gold and lapis-lazuli. In 1896 Piper-Heidsieck asked Aubrey Beardsley, the most controversial artist of the Art Nouveau era, to design the famous poster of Isolde drinking its legendary champagne. In 1953 Marylin Monroe famously declared that she went to bed every night with Chanel n°5 behind her ears and woke up every morning with a glass of Piper-Heidsieck Champagne. In 1965 Piper-Heidsieck created the largest bottle of champagne in the world – the size of English actor Rex Harrison, a towering 1.82 metres (6 ft) – to celebrate Harrison’s Oscar win for his role in “My Fair Lady” alongside Audrey Hepburn. This ‘Melchisedech’ — the equivalent of 64 bottles — contained Piper-Heidsieck Brut Vintage 1959 Champagne. In 1985 Piper-Heidsieck asked Van Cleef & Arpels to redesign the famous Cuvée Rare bottle created by Fabergé 100 years earlier. In 1997 Piper-Heidsieck adorned the red label, symbol of enthusiasm, passion, panache and excellence, to convey a message of conviviality. In 1999 Piper-Heidsieck was the first champagne House to ask a fashion designer to dress a special cuvée, in this case the Cuvée Spéciale dressed by Jean Paul Gaultier. In 2000 Piper-Heidsieck became the first House to offer quarter-bottles of champagne, drunk with the use of a straw, in phase with changing lifestyles. During 2004 Piper-Heidsieck launched Piper-Heidsieck Piscine, reinventing the way to savour Champagne — with champagne ice cubes. There were more:

Le Rituel — In 2009 Christian Louboutin created a Cinderella-like glass slipper for champagne maker Piper-Heidsieck. Drinking from a slipper was in vogue in the 1880s when male suitors would drink from the slippers of Russian ballerinas; it was later picked up in Paris when drinking out of a courtesan’s shoe was considered the height of grand living. Piper-Heidsieck is reinterpreting this risqué custom from the Belle Époque with the launch of Le Rituel de Piper-Heidsieck, featuring a crystal stiletto shoe which serves as a champagne flute. For the 2011 project Piper Heidsieck collaborated with Jean Paul Gaultier on a limited edition of their Brut Cuvée. The bottle is inspired by Jean Paul Gaultier’s designs and Parisian night life. The bottle is dressed in a fishnet stocking with a mask below the cork and a bow tie on top of the cork.

Do discover the fine Champagne of Piper some time soon.

Chris Reckord – Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. He and his wife Kerri-Anne are part-owners of Jamaica’s only Wine Bar – Bin26 Wine Bar in Devon House, Kingston. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Follow us on twitter.com/DeVineWines