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  • The Diamond of Le Mesnil: Champagne Pierre Péters:

    The Diamond of Le Mesnil: Champagne Pierre Péters:

    The Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is the source of the most quintessential chalky and dead-serious blanc de blancs champagnes of all. Here, the name Pierre Péters exists in rare company with the likes of Jacques Selosse, Krug and Salon. Chardonnay excels in Mesnil's porous, chalky slopes and there's no producer that covers the entire range like Pierre Péters.

    Today, I'm happy offer a wide collection from Champagne Pierre Péters, starting of course, with the flagship Cuvée Réserve with special pricing.

    The non-vintage Cuvée Réserve, 100% Chardonnay sourced entirely from grand cru villages, is the reference point for the Côtes de Blancs. Sourced from 63 parcels and supplemented by the perpetual reserve.

    While the story behind Pierre Péters warrants significant time, I'd like to start with some technical information gleaned during my visit that really helped me understand exactly why the wines are as focused and profound as they are.

    - Mesnil's unique broken chalky soil allows vines to easily travel deep, picking up nutrients and mineral expressions from this bedrock, in turn, supplying the wines with that chalk-inflected and unmistakable saline note that stands apart from even the neighboring villages in the Côte de Blancs. If Mesnil is winter, then Avize is summer, Crammant fall, and Oger spring. 

    - Stainless steel is used for the aging here (with the exception of reserve wines, we will get to that later). The use of oak in Mesnil is believed to bring a nutty character that may work well in many other villages, but here it becomes far too pronounced and detracts from the taut and straight-line focus that is its calling card. In short, stainless steel provides a balance that is ideal for Mesnil Chardonnay.

    - There's a maximum of 3 hours between harvesting a cluster to the time it is pressed. In the world of white winemaking this is as rapid as it gets. The idea is that degradation of Chardonnay will begin, even in the most faint respects, after this 3 hour period has passed. The extremely rare luxury of two pneumatic presses allows for pressing on an ideal, un-rushed schedule.

    - There's a noble bitterness and citrus pith note to the fruit here matched with the salinity that's the foundation for the house style. Ultimately, in my estimation, the most crystalline reflection of chalky terroir. With age (yes, the NV warrants cellaring too) the nutty and slightest of caramel notes can arise. If I had to choose one village to visit in bottle after decades, it would be Mesnil for this wild combo.

    - An average of 65% of this Chardonnay completes malolactic fermentation. In cooler years, this percentage can rise to 80%. Fuller the malo, more creamy the texture. In ripe years such as 2003 and 2009 the partial blocking of malo maintains the tension of structure that otherwise would become too flabby.

    - The perpetual blend (source of reserve wine) was started in 1997 and contains wine from: 1988, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996. Vintages like 1999 and 2003 were excluded, for instance, because they brought a hefty weight that was not ideal.

    - Before 1997, instead of using a perpetual blend, Rodolphe's father chose single vintage reserve tanks to pull from to supplement the NV.  

    - Today, the perpetual reserve is kept in a combination of three formats:Stockinger foudre (wood) 18%, concrete 38%, and steel 44%. The foudre brings fine tannins and faint nutty development. The concrete brings out the chalky character, while paradoxically keeping the lees settled. The steel brings the bright citrus and fresh fruit qualities.

    - The L'Esprit is sourced from 4 parcels contained in Grand Cru village: Mesnil, Cramant, and Avize. (ALL LARGE FORMAT NV RESERVE IS ACTUALLY 100% L'ESPRIT)

    - Oubliée Reserve taps the three best reserve vessels (foudre, concrete, steel) and then spends two years in steel tank. 

    - L'Etonnant Monsieur Victor is a newer bottling that taps the best tank of Les Chétillons, the best Reserve wine, and the Oubilée.

    The transition from grower to grower-producer is never a seamless one. Pierre Péters historically sold all grapes to large champagne houses until 1919 when Camille Péters chose to bottle his first wine. Camille's son Pierre, only 12 years old, took an interest in the newly formed estate, showing wines at exhibitions in Paris. Upon Camille's passing, Pierre took control of production in 1944 at the age of 24. It was under his tenure that new vineyards were acquired, attention to detail grew, and the estate Pierre Péters rose in stature.

    Of Pierre's two sons, Jacques went on to become Chef de Cave at Clicquot and François chose to stay at the domaine. The choice by François was not necessarily an easy one, as at this time the larger houses like Clicquot cast a large shadow on the more emerging grower-producer movement. Pierre saw fame and accolades while François continued to fight the good fight, honing in on improving his vineyards and working closely with his contemporaries. François was a founding member of the Special Club.

    François's eldest son, Rodolphe began to focus on wine after initially studying marine biology. A close friend convinced him of the spectacularly rare gift that awaited him at home. Rodolphe earned an Oenology degree and an MBA before working in various aspects of the wine trade. He joined his father in 2000, and in 2008 he took control of production. 

    Over the last decade Rodolphe has taken the Pierre Péters to even greater heights. The estate now covers 18 hectares primarily in Le Mesnil (45 of 63 parcels), as well as vines in grand crus, Cramant and Avize. 

    In 4000 Champagnes, Richard Juhlin sums up the estate well:

    "Pierre Péters is a hidden treasure of Champagne . . . and the prices are laughable considering the quality of the wines.”
    Posted by Alexander Rosen

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