The launch of the latest vintage of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Blanc de Blancs from 2012, prompted the Champagne house to present an entire vertical of the wine, back to 1993.
They must be the most iconic flowers in the wine business, those swirling Art Nouveau anemones on every bottle of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque. They are visual shorthand for indulgence, style, sass and pleasure. Designed in 1902 by Emile Gallé and silhouetted in gold, they are amongst the most enduring and recognisable brand designs of the 20th century.
The flowers pay homage not only to an optimistic and hyper-creative era of art, but also to keen botanists (and art collectors) in the house's family: Pierre-Nicolas Perrier and fellow naturalist Rose-Adélaïde Jouët, who founded the house in 1811, and their son Charles. The anemones are most familiar on a green background; however, they are even more special when they appear against a clear background, on the bottles used for the vintage bottlings of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Blanc de Blancs.
While the first bottling of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Blanc de Blancs was not made until 1993, the plots that furnish the fruit for these exceptional wines have been owned by Perrier-Jouët since 1848, both in the grand cru village of Cramant: Bouron Leroi and Bouron du Midi. Séverine Frerson, only the 8th cellar master in the history of the house, says the plots are “pure chalk.” Every Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Blanc de Blancs is always made from the fruit from just these two plots. Production thus is extremely limited, the number of bottles made, so Frerson says, is kept “a secret.”
Frerson is a woman of few words. She did not even make much of the fact that this was a complete vertical of every Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Blanc de Blancs ever made. The idea was conceived in order to make a wine to commemorate the new millennium – and 1993 was its first vintage. “a year of near perfect conditions,” the accompanying literature says. The wine was still fresh and gave clues as to what is in store for collectors who buy the latest release, 2012.
2012 is the latest release of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Blanc de Blancs, after 1993, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. “2012 was a very good year,” Frerson says. “Very elegant, in one word 2012 for me, it is purity.”
