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2002 Piper-Heidsieck "Cuvée Rare" Brut Champagne

2002 Piper-Heidsieck "Cuvée Rare" Brut Champagne

97JD
97WS
95RP
94DC
94JG
94W&S
94WE
93JS
93ST

97

Jeb Dunnuck

Review Date: 03/2018

A gorgeous wine that's a legend in the making, the 2002 Rare Brut is a blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, with just under 10 grams of dosage. Offering incredible notes of stone fruits, brioche, white flowers, and hints of toasted nuts, this flat out awesome wine is concentrated and opulent, yet still dances on the palate with vibrant acidity and great, great finish. It's going to drink beautifully for another two to three decades. Bravo! This cuvee has only been made in 1976, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2002, and in 2007.

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Price: $279.99

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Professional Reviews

97

Wine Spectator

Review Date: 11/2015
Impeccably balanced and silky, with finely honed acidity shaping the expansive flavors of toasted brioche, crushed blackberry, lemon preserves and honey, revealing hints of Frangelico liqueur and smoked nut. Rich and vivid, with a lasting finish. *Highly Recommended, Collectible* (AN)

95

Wine Advocate

Review Date: 06/2016
The pale gold, greenish shimmering 2002 Rare Millesime -- 30% Pinot Noir and 70% Chardonnay -- offers a very intense and rich, yet fresh nose of exotic fruit aromas of pineapples, mango, kiwi and passion fruit. On the palate, this is a mouthful of luscious Champagne: powerful and intense, but pure and with the complexity of matured wines. The finish is very exotic in its fruit aromas, but also persistently mineral. (SR)

94

Decanter

Review Date: 10/2019
‘Iconic’ is the selected word for this famous vintage, and it's a very good choice. The deep burnished gold colour belies a shimmering effervescence and a lively nose, which marries citric freshness with more exotic tropical notes. Passion fruit and quince are to the fore, followed by nuts, praline and oriental spices. The texture is generous yet silky, vivacious yet long, its complexity even more evident after over an hour in the glass. Impressive indeed! (SF)
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Staff Reviews

Gary Westby
K&L Buyer
Review Date: 06/2018
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The wonderfully rich Cuvee Rare from Piper Heidsieck reminds me of the great tete de cuvee's of years gone past. Like those, it is made in tiny quantities and only in the very best years- only 8 vintages have been made in 36 years! We drank this wine at a staff sushi and Champagne party at my house, and loved it with the eel especially, but I think the ultimate pairing for this wine would be a nice sunset. It doesn't need anything! I love the warm toastiness of this wine and its fine balance. The refreshing finish will have you coming back for more!
Elsa Baez
Review Date: 07/2018
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When thinking about what to write about for this review I could not think of full sentences that would captivate on what exactly makes this champagne so special. Rather, when I think about the 2002 Piper Heidsieck Cuvee Rare champagne I think: beautiful, luxurious, unique, structured and by far one of the best vintage champagnes I've tried this year. With notes of toasted brioche, ripe fruit, a hint of almond and balanced with subtle minerality, a good balance of weight at the mid-palate and undertones of a very light effervescence, this is a must try for any champagne lover. Even better, you can hold onto this bottle for another 15 years or so. I can guarantee you won't be able to and will be inclined to buy another just to age. This is also a fantastic pick for that special occasion you've been wanting to splurge on and celebrate. When you taste the champagne you'll get the sense that every part of this champagne is meant to be together. Age + fantastic champagne vintage, let alone the fruit of 17 crus used to make this bottle, is going to blow you away.
Stefanie Juelsgaard
Review Date: 07/2018
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The incredible scores this Champagne has received are very well deserved. It strikes the perfect balance between fresh and bright and toasty, nutty brioche. The blend of Chardonnay to Pinot Noir is spot on and the stainless steel tank fermentation has kept it from becoming too soft. This is by far one of the better Champagnes I've had of this vintage and style and I hope I get another chance to try it before its gone.
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Notes

This is the top of the line wine from Piper-Heidsieck and may be the greatest tête-de-cuvée Champagne that you have not tried. It is composed of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir and vinified in stainless steel tanks with full malolactic. This is one of the last 2002s on the market, as most houses sell much younger Champagne even for the top of their range. This was a vintage of both great concentration and finesse, and the Rare shows this. It is a very finely balanced, elegant wine with great length. This wine is drinking great now, but judging by how well bottles from the 1980s taste, it will continue to improve for decades to come.

Product Details

Origin: Champagne, France

Alcohol Content: 12.5%

SKU: #1110738