Verticals (2019) s02e05 Episode Script

(soft music)
- Pierre Peters personally
is just one of my favorite
Champagnes in the world.
It is quintessential blanc de blancs.
It's the best expression of Chardonnay,
personally I feel coming out of Champagne.
- Pierre Peters is an
incredibly underrated champagne.
It's not widely known,
it's not incredibly famous,
and they produce really
stunning expressions
of Chardonnay and the Côte des
Blancs for incredible value.
- It's crisp, it's fruit
forward, it's acidic.
It's well-made, it's aged right.
It is the gold standard for me
for blanc de blancs Champagne.
- Pierre Peters was founded in 1919.
The current winemaker is Rodolphe Peters.
He is a fourth generation wine maker,
a sixth generation grape grower.
- He really embodies the personality
of a champagne producer.
You need a lot of grit
and a lot of passion
in order to make wine that's
beautiful, in general.
But it's a whole other
animal in Champagne.
It's an incredibly precise
art, but it is still an art.
You still need to have that soul
and that passion in order to make it.
- My name is Rodolphe Peters.
I'm the current winemaker
and owner of Champagne Pierre Peters.
Here we are in a pretty special
place called Les Chétillons,
one of the most famous
terroir in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
because we are in the village
of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger,
in the heart of Côte des Blancs.
- The Côte des Blancs really
thrives on it being cool.
It is very far north.
It's actually very close
to the Chablis region
of Northern Burgundy as well.
So these wines, they need
that razor edge acidity.
That is a hallmark for
the Côte des Blancs wines.
- I mean, they are located
in the crème de la crème.
It's the Côte des Blancs.
All of their properties
are considered there
from Grand Cru regions.
You just can't get better
chardonnay from Champagne
other than where they're growing.
(soft piano music)
- My ancestor came from
Luxembourg around 1850.
He married a lady from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
and started not to elaborate champagne,
but farm vineyard.
It's actually my
great-grandfather called Camille,
two generations later,
who took the decision to change his life,
to change our life, and
to be a real producer.
- What people don't realize
is a lot of these big houses
that they're used to buying champagne from
are not actually growing those grapes.
They don't own any vineyards,
they're buying from the growers.
- So something that makes
Pierre Peters unique is that
they are a grower-producer,
meaning that all of the grapes
that are used in their wines
are grown on their estate,
which is actually rather
rare in the Côte des Blancs.
- No, you see growers now,
but a hundred years ago,
it was just farmers.
They didn't really earn
their life very well.
They were under the
pressure of the négociant.
And based on the Champagne rules,
you must press your grapes no later than
40 hours after the picking.
So no choice for the growers to accept,
to agree for a bad deal.
To escape the situation,
my great-grandfather took
the decision for himself
to buy a press, but also
for the village to create
the first ever crop.
And that was the beginning of those,
let's say, champagne
grower story for my family.
- Rodolphe Peters makes a
number of different wines
but I think his most
famous is his Chétillons
and it's incredibly age-worthy.
It's a 45-year-old vine
and it's concentrated,
and complex, and butterscotch. Delicious.
("La Campanella" by Franz Liszt plays)
- So the new cuvée I
want to introduce you to
is Les Montjolys in the vintage 2013.
This is the second release ever.
We released last year's 2012 vintage.
It's also a single vineyard elaborated
from a specific terroir
from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.
A kind of sibling for Les Chétillons.
What make us decide to elaborate
a second single vineyard
is to show the diversity
of faces of a village
like Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.
Once again, people think that chalk
or chalky bedrock is very uniform,
produce very homogeneous
wine, homogenous champagne,
but it's not like that.
Nature creates diversity
and nature is diversity.
While we felt like Chétillons
has a very masculine
powerful aspect and is based mostly
on a very dry chalk,
this cuvée,
because of its situation on
the slope, is more feminine,
a kind of reach the sky cuvée.
Very elegant and more round
exposing the chalk as well
but a little more creamy.
Les Montjolys is seated
a little more below,
so get more sediment,
has a deeper topsoil.
And most specifically it's
quite unique in Le Mesnil.
We find clay and flint.
So flint create a kind of smokey taste
and clay soft, quite
sharp, mineral character
of Le Mesnil.
I don't mean this cuvée has
no long lasting potential.
No, not at all.
I just mean that Le Mesnil
can be another story.
And we try to demonstrate
through this wine.
("New Philosopher" by Laurent Dury plays)
We are quite in a rush of
the harvest preparation
and this time is a
perfect moment to sample.
So it's the sampling time for me.
I go through to pick some berries
so that I can check first the
chemistry, but also the taste.
The taste for me is
more and more important
and even more important
because of weather change.
First fruits just taste
like a green, is not juicy,
and champagne is pretty special
because we don't look for overripe grapes.
We don't look for the
perfect phenolic maturation,
I mean like your red wine.
We look for pretty special balance
in between nice citrus,
but also good freshness
which is quite a sharp and tight to find.
My father never did that.
Actually, he focused on all
in his career on the chemistry
mainly because of the weather.
His challenge was to pick
ripe enough with enough sugar.
Now we look for not too much sugar.
- So it's really interesting to see
how they're being affected
now with global warming.
That region thrives on it being cold.
So it'll be really interesting to see
how winemakers have to pivot
in the face of global warming
and how the wines may or may not change.
- I'm old enough to be connected
to my father's generation.
So there's a generation
who had to fight, you know,
really they had to pick their
grapes late of September,
even in October with
very challenging weather.
In Champagne, it was cold, rainy,
and it was a real challenge to
reach even, proper maturity.
So clearly, global warming
brought big change.
The buds break happen earlier,
the flowering happen earlier.
We were used to say, okay,
800 days in between the
blooming and the picking.
This is not true anymore.
It's average 90 days.
And this year it's
going to be 86, 87 days.
- They're farmers that understand the land
that they're farming.
They understand how to bring
out the best in the fruit
and they just produce
a world-class champagne
that you really can't rival.
- Okay so I want to introduce you
this cuvée is 2013 vintage,
specifically because of the
history of this vintage.
We went into the vineyard together.
I explain you the impact,
big impact of weather
change, how fast it goes.
is very last,
old school,
old kind of vintage.
And I would say it's more my taste.
It's a vintage for the next generation.
So it's one for my children.
("Every Time You Move"
by Dom Storrs plays)
(champagne pops)
So in 2013, the weather was
quite challenging.
First, we faced as we've
already faced in 2012,
spring frost.
Dramatic.
We lost
20, 25% of the crop
in the middle of February.
And then a period of very cold weather,
not rainy but cooler.
So it can down the maturation.
And we had quite a late blooming,
late of June as it was in the whole time.
And then
the summer was average, quite perfect.
What I like with this cuvée Les Montjolys
is very feminine character.
It's a bunch of white flowers,
very soft, very creamy,
very enjoyable, not challenging at all.
And it's very aerial
but serious at the same time.
The proof that's-
It's for a winemaker,
the biggest challenge.
I think all the serious
or very serious winemaker
are trying to reach this
balance at the end of the day,
at the end of their career.
I don't seek the end of my career at all.
I have many things to achieve,
also to transmit to the next generation.
But it's something I tried
to reach from every vintage.
For me the DNA of champagne is absolutely
not about single vineyard.
It's the secret of the blend.
If you add the right
proportion of one and another,
you create something
with much more harmony.
- Blending is a huge part of
the identity of champagne.
If vintage is not good enough to declare,
so if you don't see that
actual year on the bottle
it's going to be a blend
of many different vintages,
many different years.
It takes an incredibly
fine-tuned pallet nose
to be able to blend
these wines successfully,
to create the specific style
that the house is known for.
- Somebody explained me
that I have in my glass,
a history, you know.
20 different years blended together,
it's a invitation to a path.
You can go through years
after years after years.
So if we pay attention to this one,
first of all, the color.
The color is gold but not too yellow
with some green hints, the
trace of the chardonnay
because it's blanc de blancs champagne
exclusively made of chardonnay.
The bunch of white flowers,
which something I very much
like in soft, fresh almonds.
Some hint of sea salt as well.
And just the beginning
of roasted character,
like coffee and a fresh citrus,
the peel.
Some touch of citrus peel as well.
The mouth and the taste
is really full and round.
And the finish, I really
enjoyed the finish.
("Future Generation"
by Laurent Dury plays)
- In 2019, Pierre Peters
released a very special cuvée
called Heritage,
and it is a blending of
19 different vintages
in honor of their
hundredth year anniversary.
The winery was established in 1919
and the 19 different
vintages start in 1921.
And then they actually end in 2010
and it's a beautiful blend,
just honoring the heritage
and the family and the
history of this house.
- Pretty special cuvée for
me, but for my family as well.
I took over from my father in 2007
and took the reins of
Champagne Pierre Peters
one year later in 2008,
which was already a big challenge
because we are quite
old, famous grower
Champagne estate.
But my biggest challenge was
to find a way to elaborate,
to curate, to celebrate the
centenary of our estate.
I felt always a little sad
to see my father being
a very good winemaker,
elaborating outstanding champagne
but remaining all his career
in the shade of the big names,
to remain in the kind of
second league of Champagne.
But through these wine,
my idea was to show the market
that it's not new, actually.
It's like that for a long time.
And even it's probably a crazy idea,
some people, some of my friends told me
you are like crazy brother to do that.
It was an evidence
and I felt like no other way to show that
than to blend a wine
made of champagne
elaborated by the four
generations of Pierre Peters.
So we took one vintage elaborated
by my great-grandfather in 1921,
so made by Camille Peters.
A few vintages elaborated
by my grandfather, Pierre:
'47,
'59,
'64,
'66.
'69 was
the year my father
to cover.
So it's this vintage was
elaborated both by my father
and my grandfather.
'73,
'76,
'79,
'82,
'85,
'88,
1996,
all elaborated by my father.
2002, is first a great
vintage in Champagne
but it's also the one of the first vintage
my father involved me for the blends.
So it's a first vintage blended
both by my father and myself.
So 2002,
2004,
this is my father period.
And for myself, 2008,
2006,
and 2010.
The one made by my grandfather
made me decide to be a winemaker myself.
I mean, one from the '60s,
especially one from this decade,
in my opinion, the best ever.
So at Peters, but also
probably for Champagne.
It's full of marzipan,
full of many other hints,
many other things, for sure,
some spices,
some candied citrus,
some toast
but the marzipan is here and for real.
I think
it's the best I can do
for my ancestors.
Even it's made of mostly old wine,
the wine is very lively.
It's really full of energy.
But I think the wine is here
in balance and it looks like forever.
This wine doesn't taste old as
you can expect it can taste.
It's really lively, but we use a bunch of
young, middle young, advanced,
and very advanced in the good way flavors.
That's the magic of this cuvée.
It's a kind of trip.
For me, it's really to go in the past of
my father, my grandfather,
my great-grandfather.
So for sure, it's very emotional
for me to taste this wine.
- This is not merely
a job for this family.
This is their life.
This is a way of life.
- Now the question really is though
what will happen with the seventh
generation after Rodolphe?
He does have a son who is an artist.
He actually creates the
art for a lot of the labels
and it really hasn't been decided
what's going to happen with
that seventh generation yet.
So it'll be really
interesting to see where
or how they move forward.
(speaking in foreign language)
- I still remember the first
time I had Pierre Peters
and it was at a time
where grower champagne
was just becoming really
popular in New York.
And Pierre Peters was the
icon of the grower champagne.
I remember just tasting
their Cuvée de Reserve
and it has such intensity
and yet it was so affordable.
- I mean, jeez, Rodolphe Peters.
It's so crazy how he's kind of risen
to this legendary rock star level
where Brad Pitt's making wine with him.
And that's a unique juxtaposition.
- So this is Pierre Peters
Reserve Blanc de Blancs.
It's non vintage.
It's a really beautiful,
incredible bottle of wine that
really does not get the acclaim
or the attention that it deserves.
You can actually get
your hands on a bottle
of this pretty easily
but people just don't
know that it's out there
which blows my mind
because for the price point
the quality just bats
way, way above average.
Anytime I've given this bottle as a gift
or given a taste of it to a friend,
it's knock their socks off.
For me, this is a special bottle.
Pierre Peters is actually one
of the first grower producers
that I was really introduced to.
This is technically their
entry-level Champagne,
but it by no means drinks
like an entry-level wine.
So we're gonna open this
and we're going to drink.
(Claire laughs)
It's great to drink those top
cuvées from these producers.
But I think drinking the entry-level
is going to show just how
quality that producer is.
If they're doing their basic,
most accessible wine astoundingly well,
then that's just going
to show you the quality
throughout their line above
Champagnes in general.
And this is a wonderful example of that
because it's full of character.
It's full of complexity.
It's incredibly fresh and delicious.
We'll talk about this more as I taste.
- I mean that moves this incredible
Tiny bubbles. So delightful.
It's just so fresh. It's got the salinity,
it's got the chalkiness
that's very characteristic
of the Côte des Blancs.
This minerality that
just immediately pops out
and these really nice,
fresh yellow fruits--
the yellow apple, the bright,
fresh citrus, the lemon.
Little bit of white
flowers in there as well.
And then it still has all that lovely,
that textural kind of moussey
marzipan on the nose as well.
Let's taste it.
It's just so-
(laughs)
It's just so fresh.
This is their entry-level Champagne
and it's so complex, has so much depth,
so much length of finish.
This is just quality Champagne.
You can feel the love and the tradition
that's been put into this wine
and I'm a huge fan of Pierre Peters.
And I always will be.
Champagne is very special.
It can only be made in one
tiny pocket of the world.
There are certainly a lot of
examples of traditional method
of Champagne method
wines all over the world
that are beautiful,
but it's just never the same as Champagne.
And it really takes you to that place.
It takes you to the vines,
it takes you to the region.
It takes you to where there's
nip of chill in the air
all the time.
And that's why you have
these beautiful high acid,
racy, electric wines.
But there's also this
texture and this grace
that you really can only
get from that region.
And then when you're
drinking a grower Champagne,
a grower producer, you're
honing in on that even more.
You're going into these very
specific parcels of the region
and you can feel the
personality of the producer.
You can feel their connection
and personification
of those vines.
You can feel that these
grapes that made this wine,
were part of the family for these people.
You could feel the love in the glass.
You really can.