TN: A Champagne Freshie - '00 Pierre Peters Les Chetillons

WINE TALK
1

’00 Pierre Peters Cuvee Speciale Les Chetillons - Bought some on the recommendation from a friend. Had it for the first time last night. My first surprise was how approachable and open this was. While not advanced, its approachability was more like a wine twice its age. The second surprise was how good this was. Vivid yellow fruit, touches of apples, some talc and a bit of custard. But tons of elegant fruit. Good acidity but integrated perfectly and therefore not noticeable unless looked for. Moves to the top of my chart for vintage '00 ( not that I’ve had more than a couple of dozen examples) and maybe the best young grower wine I’ve had. Staggering minus.

2

Ray,

Only you would call 1900 a young grower wine. [wink.gif]

It will only get better over the decade or so. The 97 is also drinking pretty nicely right now. You should see if you can track down some stuff from the early 80s and before. Drinks like a mix of 2/3 Taittinger Comtes and 1/3 Salon.

3

Tried it for the first time when visiting the domaine and I liked it a lot, very approachable indeed, I’m wondering how it will age - for the moment I’m not planning to open any. BTW they had mags of Extra Brut and are apparently ok with selling large formats, which was good news for champagne collectors.

4

A brilliant wine for a very good producer indeed. The one bottle of '99 I have tried so far is just too young to be appreciated, imho. The '00 is absolutely great and will definitely improve in the cellar…
Interesting during my visit to the domaine with Guillaume was that the cuvee “Perle du Mesnil”, which is a favourite of mine, is not exported, and with lesser yeast for the “prise de mousse”, offers great creamy bubble and a feeling of “ready to drink” at an earlier stage. Used to be called “Cremant”… if ever you find a bottle, I think it’s worth trying.

And as Guillaume points out, they put the larger formats on their price list, which is not really usual for such a small producer.

Cheers

  • Michael
5

Michael,

The Perle is definitely a nice wine. It is interesting that this is the only Peters wine that has grapes from the Sezanne in it which I also thinks gives it some extra early drinkability.

6

Brad - Great description.

Guillaume,

I’m betting it ages well for at least 15-20+ more years.
I backed up the truck to a few places after drinking it, so I hope I’m right.