A new unmissable masterclass at RO – Wine | The International Wine Festival of Romania, a festival that takes place on May 21st and 22nd, at Fratelli Bucharest. In the "Piper-Heidsieck Experience" will be tasted some of the champagnes produced by the most awarded champagne house of the century.
On Sunday, May 22, at 2 p.m., Dominique Cimasander, International Brand Ambassador of Piper-Heidsieck, will offer for tasting to the participants in the masterclass:
- PIPER HEIDSIECK -CHAMPAGNE BRUT NON VINTAGE ALC 12%;
- PIPER HEIDSIECK – CHAMPAGNE BRUT ESSENTIAL ALC 12%;
- PIPER HEIDSIECK – CHAMPAGNE ESSENTIAL BLANC DE BLANC ALC 12%;
- PIPER HEIDSIECK – CHAMPAGNE ROSE SAUVAGE ALC 12%;
- PIPER HEIDSIECK – CHAMPAGNE RIVIERA DEMI-SEC ALC 12%.
Founded in 1785, Piper-Heidsieck, owned by the Descours family, continues today a tradition of excellence. With a state-of-the-art wine cellar in France, Piper-Heidsieck produces a memorable champagne, until March this year the chief winemaker being his famous Regis Camus. Eight times winner of the "Sparkling Winemaker of the Year" award, Camus spent three decades at Piper-Heidsieck.
As the champagnes listed above will be presented in the masterclass, the following lines will be dedicated to significant moments in the multicentennial history of the legendary champagne house.
It started with an idyll
Piper-Heidsieck’s story would have been quite different if, at first, there hadn’t been a romantic encounter. Florens-Louis Heidsieck fell in love with a certain Agathe Perthois, who inspired him to create a bowl worthy of a queen.
The meeting and marriage of another lady Heidsieck with a certain Mr. Piper would give the name of the champagne house today.
Piper-Heidsieck founder Florens-Louis Heidsieck was just a humble curtain maker in Reims when he fell in love with a young woman from the Champagne region. Florens followed her to his native region and, in 1785, added champagne to his fabric and drape business. He had just laid the foundation for the future global brand of champagne. After Florens’ passing to eternity in 1828, his nephew, Christian Heidsieck, took over the brothers of the business, along with his cousin Henri-Guillaume Piper. Things got suddenly complicated when Christian left this world. But after the period of proper mourning, things went on a normal path when Henri married his cousin in 1838. It’s when Piper-Heidsieck becomes the official name of the company.
A champagne associated with celebrities
The most influential champagne lover of the early Piper-Heidsieck era was Queen Marie Antoinette. Florens-Louis Heidsieck was inspired enough to present his newly created champagne at Versailles to Queen Maria Antoinette, who liked the bubble liqueur so much that she became the brand’s first ambassador of the brand. Moreover, legend has it that the original form of champagne cups copied the perfection of the queen’s breasts.
Over the years, another unconditional lover of champagne was Marilyn Monroe. It is said that Marilyn always had in the house a reserve of Piper-Heidsieck large enough to reach her for a month, to prevent any shortcoming generated by a possible syncope in the supply. Marilyn is also credited with the words: "I lie down invested only in a drop of Chanel perfume no. 5 and I wake up with a glass of Piper-Heidsieck
The champagne house has been supporting Hollywood cinema since 1933, when a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck – the first champagne in the history of world cinema seen on the big screens – appeared in Sons of the Desert, the debut film of the comedian couple Stan and Bran.
In 1964, Piper-Heidsieck celebrated Rex Harrison’s Oscar for his role in My Fair Lady with a 48-liter, custom bottle measuring 177 centimeters – just seven centimeters less than the actor’s height.
Piper-Heidsieck is the official champagne of the Academy Awards, and it turned out that the stars love the Piper-Heidsieck champagne as much as, in the old days, Marilyn: according to the organizers of the Oscars, at the 2017 ceremony, a stopper of a bottle of Piper jumped every eight seconds.
On the bright side of History
At one point, during the Second World War, at the helm of the Piper-Heidsieck family business there was also an avid pilot: the Marquis Jean de Suarez d’Aulan. The nobleman was not only a brave military man, but also a supporter of the French Resistance: he allowed the freedom fighters of Champagne to hide some of their weapons in his cellars.
Vitibots, adopted by the oenologist
And because tradition does not exclude adaptation to new technologies, in 2019, Emilien Boutillat, the 32-year-old oenologist, turned to artificial intelligence in vineyard management, resorting to "vitibots". Boutillat has invested in a startup that produces the respective "vitibots". The first such intelligent robot brought to Piper-Heidsieck was an autonomous tractor with a decisive role in sprinkling the vine.
More details about Piper-Heidsieck and its champagnes can be found from Dominique Cimasanderi, in this masterclass.
Access to this premium event will be made exclusively with an invitation offered by the organizers, within the limits of the available places.
