After Rami Malek won “Best Actor” at the 2019 Oscars for his outstanding performance as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, he popped open a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck’s Rare Champagne. The good news is, Rare Champagne is now available in the Philippines, thanks to Premium Wine Exchange (PWX), which is also now the official distributor of Piper Heidsieck champagnes in the country, the umbrella company of Rare.
At a recent lunch hosted by PWX at Blackbird, Valentine Labarthe-Bourre, Piper Heidsick’s Vice President for Asia Pacific shared with us tidbits about this champagne.
Some fast facts:
1. Rare Champagne combines 70% chardonnay with 30% pinot noir. It is aged on lees for 8 years minimum. “Complex aromas of biscuit, bread and caramel, rich creamy palate. With a youthful terrific acidity. Sophisticated and intense.” -International Wine Challenge 2017
2. Look very closely– the bottle is unevenly shaped! In the 18th century, Florens-Louis Heidsieck presented his very first prestige Cuvée, ‘worthy of a Queen’, to Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France, (Rare Champagne is actually a tribute to her) in a characteristically aristocratic bottle: the Pinte Majeure. In those days, glass blowers made bottles of champagne by hand, intended for the aristocracy. Thus, the asymmetrical shoulders of the bottle emphasize its singular personality, and Rare Champagne modernized the original shape which is sold today.
3. It is adorned with a golden lacy crown, and it is not unusual for women to remove it and wear it as a tiara. They also have a Rare Le Secret adorned with jewelry designed by French jeweler Mellerio (they cost $100,000 to $150,000 and only 10 bottles have gone on sale worldwide!)
4. It has been described as “Champagne master” by The Drink Business (2016-2017), “champagne of the decade” by Fine Magazine, and “Champion of champions” by the International Wine Challenge 2017. *And just in case any of you know my big wine-o of an uncle, it is “Alex Tiu-approved.”
5. Lebua’s Pink Bar in Bangkok is the only bar in the world to offer Rare Champagne by the glass. You can also have it on Cathay Pacific’s First Class.
Thank you so much for having us!
For more information on Rare, Piper-Heidsieck and the PWX portfolio, visit their website
