A handful of very lucky wine and champagne experts from around the world were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime champagne tasting by French champagne house Perrier-Jouet recently. The tasting included an array of historic vintages and most notably, a bottle of vintage champagne dating back to the brief but tumultuous reign of Charles X. Incidentally, the 1825 vintage is listed in The Guinness Book of Records as the oldest remaining champagne in the world. Olivier Cavil of Perrier-Jouet graciously submitted to The Luxe Chronicles' brief Q&A.
1. Your guests included some of the world's leading wine and champagne experts. They were treated to a tasting that included vintages from 1825, 1846, 1858, 1874, 1892, 1906, 1911, 1928, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1964, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1995, 1996 and 2002. What was the purpose of the event?
The goal of that event was really to probe into the past of our House which owns the richest collection of champagne vintages in the world. We wanted to pinpoint the date of the birth of the Perrier-Jouet style and trace its evolution. When did the charm and elegance of the Perrier-Jouet style first emerge? In other words it was like a quest to trace the DNA of Perrier-Jouet starting from its oldest vintage, the Perrier-Jouet 1825 up to the Belle Epoque 2002, the first great vintage of the new millennium.
To achieve this, we gathered the world's leading wine specialists for a tasting of historical vintages and help us identify the consistent traits of Perrier-Jouet. I think that the excitement of opening a vintage that was bottled 175 years ago like the Perrier-Jouet 1825 may have overwhelmed the oenological analysis though. Incidentally, the bottling of Perrier-Jouet 1825 coincides with the last coronation of a French King in Reims, Charles X.
2. When will you be releasing the Belle Epoque 2002?
We plan to release our new vintage, the Belle Epoque 2002, at the end of the year. This tasting event revealed that the Belle Epoque 2002 rests on 200 years of previous vintages. Herve Deschamps is only the 7th cellar Master in two centuries and that stability may explain the surprisingly strong consistency of our cuvees since 1825.
3. Why now? Considering the current state of the global economy, did you have any second thoughts about holding such an event?
In a time of crisis, I think it is the right moment to reassert what is true luxury. This event was not organized in the spirit of showing off but rather it was done with the conviction that genuine luxury is first and foremost about excellence based on history and exceptional know-how. This is the right moment to display the uniqueness of our cuvee not for the purposes of a marketing campaign but in terms of its indisputable superior quality. There is no better way for us to do that than by a fantastic tasting.
4. Who selected the vintages that made up the tasting?
Herve Deschamps, Perrier-Jouet's cellar Master, selected each one. All the vintages were stored in our historic cellars in a section called "The Eden" where we age our old bottles and store all our invaluable treasures.
5. Will there be other events like this in the future?
Perhaps we'll organise something in 2011 to celebrate the bicentenary of the House.
6. Thank you for talking to The Luxe Chronicles.
My pleasure!
Wish I knew! If enthusiasm for drinking champagne were enough to qualify me as an expert, I would have made the guest list with little difficulty. Alas, I think they were aiming for people with more solid oenological qualifications than mine.
Helene
Posted by: Helene | Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 10:16
Did the champagne taste good at least?
Posted by: Dahlia | Monday, March 16, 2009 at 21:06