WBW #25 1998 Champagne Brut Millesime Pierre Peters

Becks & Posh is hosting Wine Blogging Wednesday #25. This month's theme is Champagne.

I drink sparkling wine fairly often. I mostly buy inexpensive Cava and Prosecco, though I’ll occasionally do American sparklers or splurge on Cremant d'Alsace. I never buy Champagne.

That may change however, for the 1998 Champagne Brut Millesime 'Pierre Peters' really opened my mind. This is a very bubbly, deep and delineated Champagne made from 100% Chardonnay. My immediate thought after taking my first sip was, er… beer. The wine has a very pronounced yeasty character. Second, I got some hints of Sherry or perhaps White Port. Lastly, I got some minerality. Drinking companion E.F. Glutton described the muted citrus fruit as "juice from lemon slices that have been in the fridge for a couple of days". He also detected nut flavors. I’m quite sure my inexperienced palate isn’t doing justice to this wine, so do read the impressions of Pierre Rovani, Stephen Tanzer and Wine Spectator.

According to their website, the Peters family, originally from Luxembourg, established their holdings in Champagne sometime around 1840. Pierre Peters, the namesake of this wine, took over the operation in 1940. The current manager of the business, Francois Peters, produces over 13,000 cases annually from the family's 43 acres of chalk soil vineyards. Check out Terry Thiese’s 2006 Champagne Catalog for more on the Pierre Peters estate and its wines.

I found the 1998 Brut Millesime 'Pierre Peters' arresting. I’m still deciding whether I like it or not, but I’m definitely very glad I tried it. It really expanded my conception of sparkling wine and made me excited to try more Champagne. I simply had no idea sparkling wine could taste like this.

E.F. Glutton and I enjoyed several other palate expanding wines the same night we drank the Pierre Peters. If you’re interested, you can read about them here.

Thanks to Sam Breach for the great theme.

$49.99 at Esquin Wine Merchants, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines (a Terry Thiese selection).

UPDATE: The roundup is here.