Pierre Péters "Cuvée de Réserve" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

Sunny and brisk, this wine describes chalk-rich Champagne from the Côte des Blancs. Based on the 2017 harvest, the blend includes more than 40 percent from a perpetual reserve, with vintages going back to 1988, all Chardonnay from the family’s parcels in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Cramant, Avize and Oger. The wine’s ornate intensity includes scents of spring blossoms, oyster mushrooms, celery leaf and the nuttiness of long-aged Comté. (12/2020)

Sleek and mouthwatering, with a fine, satiny mousse and a fresh panoply of crunchy pear, grapefruit sorbet, pickled ginger and spring blossom notes. Bright and finely knit, with rich hints of toast and mineral echoing on the finish. Disgorged November 2019. (AN) (11/2020)

The new release of Rodolphe Péters “Cuvée de Réserve” Blanc de Blancs non-vintage Brut is from the base year of 2017 and was aged two years sur latte prior to its disgorgement in March of 2020. Twenty-five percent of the vins clairs did not go through malo in this blend, which was raised in a combination of stainless steel, cement and oak barrels, and as always, it includes a sizable percentage of reserve wines that date all the way back to the 1988 vintage. The finishing dosage is six grams per liter The wine offers up a fine nose of apple, hazelnut, a touch of crème patissière, chalky soil tones and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and still nicely tensile (from the non-malo portion of the blend), with a good core, frothy mousse, fine soil signature and a long, complex finish. The reserve wines give some fine touches of maturity to the wine. (9/2020)

Disgorged in June 2019, the latest rendition of Péters' NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cuvée de Réserve offers up a lovely bouquet of citrus oil, pear, pastry cream, dried white flowers, hazelnuts and crushed chalk. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, fine-boned and elegant, with ripe but racy acids, a delicate pinpoint mousse and a long, saline finish. As usual, this is an immensely refined Champagne that exemplifies the timeless style of this Mesnil-based Chardonnay specialist. (WK) (4/2020)

The NV Blanc de Blancs Cuvée de Réserve is such a gorgeous wine. Bright, mineral and savory, with attractive tropical accents, the Cuvée de Réserve offers striking nuance and tons of class. This release is based on 2016, with reserve wines that go back to 1988. Partially blocked malolactic fermentation helps preserve a measure of freshness, but what impresses most is the wine’s total sense of balance. For readers who want to know what the Côte des Blancs is all about, without spending the money for an elite cuvée, this is the place to start. In a word: impressive. (AG) (11/2020)

Grande Réserve is a blend of four Côte des Blancs terroirs (Le Mesnil, Avize, Cramant, and Oger) with 20% reserve wines and a 2015 base. Very calcareous and complex, the nose offers notes of lemon, chalk and spring flowers. There is lots of tension and energy in this cuvée, which seems more vertical than horizontal. (YC) (11/2020)