Piper-Heidsieck Champagne
Piper-Heidsieck has been considered a party lover's champagne, but in the past 10 years or so, a much more serious side has emerged. The overall Piper-Heidsieck style is lively and fresh with nice biscuity notes shining through with a little extra aging. The Piper-Heidsieck prestige, Cuvee Rare, is an absolute star that should not be overlooked.
Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Collection
Dry and Sweet
Piper-Heidsieck offers both dry and sweet champagne. Their dry champagne is presented first followed by their sweeter option.
Piper-Heidsieck Dry Styles
Non-Vintage
Piper-Heidsieck Brut is their house style champagne. They also offer a non-vintage brut rose' called Piper-Heidsieck Rose' Sauvage. The following links provide a review, tasting notes, retail price, and ratings by Champagne 411, Wine Enthusiast, and/or Wine Spectator.
Vintage Brut
Piper-Heidsieck produces a basic brut vintage champagne. Click on the name to find a review, tasting notes, retail price, and ratings by Champagne 411, Wine Enthusiast, and/or Wine Spectator.
Vintage Prestige Cuvee
Piper-Heidsieck Rare is their prestige cuvee. Click on the link to obtain a review, tasting notes, retail price, and ratings.
Piper-Heidsieck Sweeter Styles
Piper-Heidsieck offers a demi-sec champagne label for those who prefer a sweeter champagne experience. Our Sweet Champagne report provides a list of additional sweet champagne brands.
Piper-Heidsieck History
The original house was opened in 1785 as Heidsieck & Co., a cloth and wine trading company, by Florens-Louis Heidsieck who was born in 1749 in Westphalia, Germany. Heidsieck was an ambitious man and the son of a Protestant minister who began his career as a draper in Reims. He fell in love and married a woman from Champagne and vowed to make a wine for her that was worthy of a queen.
Florens died in 1828 and was succeeded by his nephew, Christian Heidsieck with a partner, Henri-Guillaume Piper, a talented businessman. Heidsieck was granted the honor of becoming the authorized supplier to multiple royal and imperial courts. Christian died in 1935 and his widow remarried Henri-Guillaume a few years later. The name of the firm was then changed to H Piper & Company in 1838. In the middle 1840s, the firm began selling their champagne under the name “Piper-Heidsieck”. Henri died in 1870 and Jacques-Charles Theodore Kunkelmann, partner since 1851, took over. He was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand-Theodore in 1892.
In 1926, Ferdinand’s daughter, Yoland Kunkelmann married the Marquis Jean de Suarez d’Aulan. The Marquis became a fighter pilot during World War II and died in combat in 1944. After the devastations of war, the house managed to prosper again under Yolande’s guidance with the assistance of General d’Ales. Yoland remarried the General in 1945. Later, Yoland and the Marquis Jean de Suarzez d’Aulan’s eldest son Francois d’Aulan took the reins in 1957. In 1990, the house was sold to Remy Cointreau who already owned Charles Heidsieck, bringing the two houses together under one roof and passing the leadership to the Heriard Dubreuil family. In 2011, both Charles and Piper were sold to the French Descours family owned EPI group with Christopher Descours as president. A long term agreement was signed in 2015 with Terlato Wines, one of the principal luxury wine importers in the world to import Piper-Heidsieck champagne.
More On Piper-Heidsieck
Contact and Visitor Information
Contact and possible tour information can be found in our Contact Piper-Heidsieck report.
About
Our About Piper-Heidsieck report includes general information about the champagne house and their key people.
Official Website
The official website is http://piper-heidsieck.com/en/.
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