🍾 Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Brut

Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Brut is the vintage Champagne line of the house Perrier-Jouët in Épernay (Marne): each release carries the harvest year on its label. Each year has its own page on this site: 2018, 2016.

According to the house, Belle Epoque combines Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in almost equal parts with a touch of Meunier; the grapes come from Cramant, Avize, Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Vertus and Mailly, and the wine ages at least 6 years.

The house Perrier-Jouët dates from 1811 and is based in Épernay; it is known for its Belle Epoque cuvée.

The boundaries of the Champagne area were set by a law of 6 May 1919: parts of the Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne departments. The designation’s specification allows seven grape varieties, dominated by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; grapes are picked as whole bunches, that is by hand, and the yield is limited to 10,400 kg per hectare.

According to the Comité Champagne, Champagne is served chilled to 8–10 °C, and bottles are kept in the dark at a steady 10–15 °C, without vibration. An opened bottle is best closed with a sparkling-wine stopper and kept cold.

Under the rules of the Champagne designation, vintage Champagne is aged for at least 36 months before sale; the bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle.

Why it matters to you. The year on the label is the harvest year, so different years of the same line are different wines. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.