New Release. Price £335.00 Tasting Notes: A pale, translucent golden colour, with radiant clarity and subtle glints of apple green. Distinctive notes of white flowers combine with white peaches, crisp pears and lemon. In the mouth, freshness prevails, releasing a beautiful harmony. The Year: A mild winter was followed by a cool, wet spring which resulted in the late blooming of the vines between 16th and 21st June 2012. The summer was hot and bathed in sunshine from mid-July all the way until the end of the harvest, favouring the maturity of the grapes. The rain only returned at the end of the harvest period. These excellent conditions produced an ideal balance between sugar and acidity, resulting in a wine of exceptional harmony, with great energy, character and potential. Grape Variety: 50% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 5% Pinot Meunier Emblematic Crus: Cramant, Avize, Ay, Mailly, Dizy Dosage: 8 grams per litre Minimum Ageing: Six years Serving: Around 12°C Background Information: For over two centuries, Maison Perrier-Jouet has continually pursued its quest for quality. 1811 is not just a legendary vintage, it is also the year that Nicolas Perrier, the son of winegrower, Adèle Jouët, the daughter of a family of wine merchants, went on to create a major champagne House. The combination of tradition, “terroir”, know-how, and a love of work created a champagne with elegance and finess. Lying in the heart of the champagne region, Perrier-Jouet owns 65 hectares rating 99.2% on the quality scale (100% being the optimum). This means that each vineyard parcels is classified almost exclusively as Grand Cru. The Chardonnay grape, floral and almost feminine in its elegance and finesse, is the signature variety of Perrier-Jouet’s vineyards, with a strong showing of mature vines (23 years old on average). The holdings take in a homogenous terroir of Chardonnay vineyards some 40 hectares in area within the legendary Grands Crus of Cramant and Avize. Two parcels enjoy almost mythical status – Bourrons Leroy and Bourrons du Midi. From its early days, the House of Perrier-Jouet has made champagne in small quantities with a “limited edition” approach. Like master craftsmen handing down the secrets of their trade from father to son, the seven Chefs de Cave over two centuries have placed quality before quantity. They have also managed to conserve the House’s historical treasures in the shape of its early vintages, such as the Perrier-Jouet 1825, the oldest left in Champagne today. Hervé Deschamps, the current Cellar Master and guardian of this heritage, is a natural upholder of this creative philosophy.