Winemaker launches revamped Piper Heidsieck champagnes in Australia
The director of winemaking for Champagne Piper Heidsieck (tastings), Regis Camus, was in Australia recently to launch the newly revamped range of Piper champagnes for its new distributor, Robert Oatley Wines (tastings).
Camus has the distinction of being named named ‘sparkling winemaker of the year’ for the seventh year in succession by the International Wine Challenge in the UK.
Well, granted: he is an outstanding winemaker, but isn’t there anyone else in Champagne, or the world, who can take him on? Surely.
A French writer once remarked that there were two good things to come out of Nancy, in the Lorraine region: Munster cheese and Regis Camus.
Camus accompanied the president of the Heidsieck twins Charles and Piper, Cecile Bonnefond, and their owner, Christopher Descours, on a promotional tour.
Camus is the brains behind the styling of the Piper wines, which have been cleverly positioned as distinctly different to Charles Heidsieck (tastings). Where Charles is rich and mellow, complex and full-bodied, the Piper non-vintage is fruity, fresh and heady, with brightness and vitality.
Piper’s crowning glory is the deluxe cuvee called Rare, a 2002 vintage packed in an impressive metal-encased bottle.
Priced at $230, it is a masterpiece of complexity and finesse that would add lustre to the most lavish feast – or just a humble slice of Munster.
