"PLATINUM MEDAL
Incredibly rich and smouldering with savoury nuts, toast and a piercing tang of bitter lemon with a fabulous silky texture imparting finesse and stature. Full of verve with gleaming waves of acidity and a lavish long length."

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"CELLAR SELECTION
The Champagne's name is just right. It has a rare finesse that gives it a wonderful tense character. Poised between dryness, great maturity and dense fruit, the wine is ready to drink."

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"An elegant, finessed Champagne, with the creamy mousse carrying a finely meshed yet concentrated range of blackberry puree and poached apricot flavors, plus blood orange peel, salted pistachio and aromatic accents of verbena, chalk and oyster shell. Shows mouthwatering acidity that carries the complex profile on the long finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Drink now through 2038. 500 cases imported."

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"Originally a part of the legendary Piper-Heidsieck Champagne house, Rare is moving their Champagne Millésime to a new brand and wants it to stand alone. (Think Delamotte and Salon.) The 13th vintage for this cuvée, the 2013 Champagne Millésime is a blend of 70% Chardonnay with the rest Pinot Noir, with the majority of the blend coming from the Montagne de Reims Grand Cru and Premier Cru. A bright yellow hue, its aromatics are exquisite and well-balanced, with fresh notes of key lime, candied apple, fresh croissant dough, fresh pineapple, and honeysuckle. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with a rounded and supple texture and a pillowy mousse. It’s long on the palate and has a silky personality as well as a long, pristine finish. It has a fantastic balance of decadence and freshness, and I could drink this all day. It’s going to have a long drinking window. Drink 2024-2044 and beyond. Disgorged December 2022."

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""Such a pleasingly elegant and multifaceted Champagne with salty, creamy and toasty elements all wound together. Plenty of apricot pastries, pears, brown butter, fennel and salted almonds, with some iodine. It’s silky on the palate, with soft and supple bubbles, while remaining fresh and on edge. 70% chardonnay and 30% pinot noir, from 11 cru villages mostly in Montagne de Reims with Côtes de Blancs. Disgorged December 2022. 9 g/L dosage. Drink or hold." - Claire Nesbitt."

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"The 2008 Champagne Rare is luxurious with aromas of graham cracker, honeysuckle, quince, and orange zest. It is round and opulent, with a fine and pillowy mousse, and retains freshness throughout, with apricot and yellow flowers. It is impressive and long, and fully luxurious. Drinking well now, it is sure to hold its own for years to come. Drink 2022-2044."

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"Rich and complex nose of baked apricot, dried pineapple, praline, walnut, spiced pear and fig. Some nutmeg and smoky notes, too. It’s supple and creamy, with a broad array of ripe tropical and spiced fruit and salted-caramel undertones. Soft bubbles. Dry feel. 70% chardonnay and 30% pinot noir, mainly from the Montagne de Reims. 11 years on the lees, disgorged end of 2020. 10g/l dosage. Delicious now."

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"70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir from 11 crus (including Villers-Marmery, Vertus, Montgueux for Chardonnay and Aÿ, Verzy and Ambonnay for Pinot Noir). No oak. Full malo. Régis Camus left this blend on lees for 10 years and then aged it for a year after disgorgement in November 2019 with a dosage of 10 g/l. Interesting how difficult it is for this wine to shed its relationship with Piper-Heidsieck on search engines.Brilliant pale coppery colour. Mmmm! So concentrated and heady with a huge array of aromas including, amazingly, coconut – but not in a tarty way. Masses of tense lime fruit aromas. Very dense nose. Lifted and refreshing and this seems much more youthful than12 years old. It does rather remind me of Dom Pérignon with its concentration and density but I don't suppose that comment will necessarily be welcome with the winemaker. It's just so electric in texture. Truly an exciting, luxurious champagne."

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"Editor's Choice."

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"Like a stallion out of the gate, this shows an initial explosion of power, in the form of mouthwatering flavors and fine texture, before quickly settling into an elegant gait. The racy acidity is seamlessly knit, buoying the lacy mousse and flavors of cassis, toasted brioche and tangerine, with accents of candied ginger, hazelnut and fleur de sel lingering on the long, creamy finish. Drink now through 2035. 2,000 cases imported."

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"The newly released 2008 Brut Cuvée Rare is very promising, unwinding in the glass with a youthfully reserved nose of citrus oil, crisp green apple, freshly baked bread, iodine and oyster shell, as well as some rather herbaceous characteristics that depress my score a little, even if I suspect that they will resolve with a bit more bottle age. Medium to full-bodied, incisive and tightly wound, if the 2006 vintage was gourmand and demonstrative, the 2008 is slower to show all its cards. Built around racy acids and complemented by a pillowy mousse, this rendition of Cuvée Rare will reward a few years more on cork."

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"The flagship release is the 2006 Champagne Rare, a 70/30 split of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that’s a cellar selection from 8 different Grand Cru vineyards. Tight, backward, and straight-up structured, it offers brilliant notes of stone fruits, toasted brioche, white flowers, and obvious minerality. Needing plenty of air to show at its best, this beauty has a wonderful mid-palate, a racy mousse, and the balance and class to cruise for over two decades in cool cellars."

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"Piper-Heidsieck's luxury cuvée with its beautifully decorated bottle is a well-matured blend of mainly Chardonnay with some Pinot Noir. Great drive and energy comes from the ripe fruit with its hints of almonds and toast. Drink this wine now."

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"Aromas and flavors of toasted brioche and grilled nut enrich the yellow plum, nectarine and grated ginger notes of this rich and creamy Champagne. Finely woven and beautifully integrated, with a firm backbone of mouthwatering acidity providing precise balance for the lush range of flavor. Drink now through 2029. 14,000 cases made, 1,800 cases imported."

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"The 2006 Brut Cuvée Rare is a rich, gourmand rendition of this prestige bottling, unfurling in the glass with a complex bouquet that mingles aromas of yellow orchard fruit, pears and fresh pineapple with nuances of buttered toast, iodine and smoke. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, broad and textural, while remaining fresh and surprisingly tight-knit at the core, concluding with a long and saline finish. There's sufficient structural tension here to promise more than a decade's graceful evolution, and although this is nicely balanced, it's a generous, sun kissed rendition of the Cuvée Rare that reflects the warm vintage. The blend is 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir."

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