Heidsieck Champagne

You may have seen the name Heidsieck before.
It’s on a lot of Champagne bottles:
Heidsieck & C° Monopole, Charles Heidsieck, and Piper-Heidsieck. Today, they’re three separate brands, but they come from the same family.

Here’s the history:

1785: Florens-Louis Heidsieck founds Heidsieck & C° in Reims, which will eventually become Piper-Heidsieck. It’s the fourth oldest Champagne house in France and the original Heidsieck House.

1828: Florens-Louis dies; nephew Christian Heidsieck and his cousin Henri-Guillaume Piper take over.

1835: Christian Heidsieck dies. And this is where it starts to get really French…

1838: Christian Heidsieck’s widow marries Henri-Guillaume Piper (her late husband’s cousin)* and the Piper-Heidsieck Champagne house is born.
*see what I mean?

1851: Charles Heidsieck, grand-nephew of Florens-Louis, founds Champagne Charles Heidsieck in Reims.

1907: Heidsieck & C° becomes the supplier to Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II.

1923: Heidsieck & C° is named Heidsieck & C° Monopole.

1953: Marilyn Monroe says, “I go to bed with a few drops of Chanel N° 5 and I wake up each morning with a glass of Piper-Heidsieck; it warms me up.”

The Blue Top above is the classic brut from Champagne Heidsieck & C° Monopole. It’s a blend of about 70% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay & 10% Pinot Meunier. In the glass, it has a golden straw color. It smells like white toast and apple, with a hint of honeycomb. This Champagne has a very fine mousse—I actually prefer more bubbles—but it has a nice texture when you taste it. I picked up subtle lemon, some underlying yeast, and a salty finish. This is a gorgeous, fresh Champagne with an awesome history for just $39.99 at Total Wine.

Chin!