Founded in 1785, Piper Heidsieck is one of France's oldest champagne maisons. Queen Marie Antoinette was presented with Piper Heidsieck’s champagne and it was said that she loved it from the first sip. In collaboration with this historic maison, an original champagne commemorating the 50th anniversary of Keio Plaza Hotel’s opening was born.
Two sommeliers Hiroaki Seki and Kazuki Ishiguro were selected for the project of the blending dosage* with Emilian Butiya (chief brewer of the maison) to create a bespoke champagne. Reminiscing the days of going to the maison, our sommeliers shared that they had a meaningful time accompanied by a sense of nervousness as they select the perfect flavors suitable for our original champagne from multiple blend candidates.
During two rounds of blind tasting from nine blend candidates to decide the final choice, both sommeliers chose the exact same blend in both rounds. Since each wine has different characteristics and flavor profiles, even opinions on daily wine recommendations can differ. It often takes time to come to a final decision. So when both sommeliers picked the same exact blend in two rounds of blind tasting for Keio Plaza Hotel’s original champagne, it came as a big surprise to Butiya, who was in charge of the blends. As though a scene from a movie, they looked at each other and promptly decided, “let’s go with this.”
Based on Keio Plaza Hotel’s passionate desire to become a "plaza" that creates encounters and gatherings of people, our two sommeliers aimed for a familiar flavor profile that embodies this. "Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel by Keio Plaza Hotel" is a blend that focuses on a rich lingering “fruity” finish, balanced with “acidity” and feels like it is presented “from the bottom of our hearts.” Please enjoy this champagne filled with our deepest gratitude for your patronage for half a century, leisurely at our hotel or at home.
*Dosage is a process after disgorgement that determines the taste of the champagne by adding a small quantity of liqueur de dosage to the champagne. It is said to be one of the most important processes in champagne making.
