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Global Champagne Day 2023
25 Oct 2023 by Wright Brothers Team
Tasting the stars
"Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!"
Those were the immortal words Dom Perignon uttered as a monk and cellar master at the abbey of Hautvilliers in the Champagne region in 1697 when he inadvertently “invented” the drink.
Bubbling debate
Or you may be of the school of thought who believe it was a British discovery. Benedictine monks were supplying the British with still-white wines from the northeast region of France.
Some of these inexpensive still white wines were inadvertently left on the London docks and the wines got cold and started undergoing a second fermentation causing them to become carbonated and thus champagne was born.
Whatever you believe, nobody can question the thrill and pleasure of sipping a chilled glass of champagne to celebrate a special occasion or perhaps just to celebrate the moment!
Collaboration with Piper - Heidsieck
In 2018 Wright Brothers were excited when Piper-Heidsieck, one of the Grandes Marques Champagne houses, approached us to collaborate and create the champagne Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel by Wright Brothers, a first for the UK.
We travelled to Piper-Heidsieck HQ in December 2018 and were warmly welcomed by everyone at Piper and hosted by Emillien Boutillat, Chef de Cave of Piper-Heidsieck. Myself and two of the WB leadership team embarked upon a lengthy series of blind tastings to create the liquor d’expedition for our Essential by Wright Brothers.
The art of disgorgement
Disgorgement is the process of removing the dead yeast which collects in the neck of the bottle as it is tipped. The neck of the bottle is frozen, the cork removed and the internal pressure ejects the frozen sediment. The wine is then topped up with the liquor d’expedition.
Crafting the blend
After 2 days of tastings and under the expert guidance of Emillion, we decided on a blend of 50% Pinot Noir 2008 and 50% solera. The solera is Piper-Heidsieck’s reserve perpetuelle, a wine continually improved and added to from each vintage over the years.
To create an extra brut champagne to marry perfectly with our shellfish and seafood the dosage, sugar added to the liquor d’expedition, was 5g/litre.The base wine is from the 2014 harvest and aged for 4 years before release. The blend is 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier and 20% Chardonnay.
The disgorgement took place in January 2019 and our first champagne was shipped to the UK in July.
Celebrate our Journey
It was such a great journey, we learned so much along the way and I’m happy to say Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel by Wright Brothers has been enjoyed by countless guests at our restaurants and around the country through Wright Brothers At Home. We are genuinely very proud of creating such a great champagne to share with you.
Why not celebrate Global Champagne Day on 27th October 2023 and uncork a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel by Wright Brothers?
Robin Hancock
Co-Founder & COO
