25-Oct-2017
The Pierre Peters Champagnes have a strong presence, somewhat disproportional to the size of the estate and the size of the New Zealand market. This is no doubt due primarily to the quality of the wines. As a grower Champagne producer, the Peters family have a long history dating back to 1840. The business is now under the stewardship of Rodolphe Peters, running it since 2008. The estate has approx. 18 ha of which 17 ha is used for the estate’s own wines, the rest sold off. 90% of the holdings are in the grand cru villages of Le Mesnil sur Oger, Oger, Avize and Cramant, of which around two-thirds is in Le Mesnil. The vines are on average 30 y.o. The estate takes great pride in respecting the soil and having the wines show their origins as well as the best of the Chardonnay grape. Uniquely, the reserve wine is managed by a solera system which lends great consistency to the house style and quality. To provide consumers with more detail on the wines, the back labels have QR codes which tells, among other information, the date the bottle left the cellars and the principal base year if an NV, these being considered more important than disgorgement dates. www.champagne-peters.com Here, I review the new ‘La Perle’ release, in a low pressure Cremant style. The Pierre Peters Champagne wines are distributed in New Zealand by Ian McInnes of Champagners, Email: [email protected]
