Pierre Péters

The house traces its start to 1858, when Gaspar Péters, a native of Luxembourg, married a Miss Doué, owner of vineyards in Le Mesnil, and started operation with about 2 hectares. Like their son, Louis Joseph Péters, the early generations sold their whole harvest to trading businesses. In 1919 Camille Péters, son of Louis Joseph, was one of the first growers of the Champagne region to harvest, handle, and sell bottles under his own name, and in 1929 he began selling his production under the brand name Camille Péters. In 1930 Camille acquired 2.5 hectares at the lieu-dit Les Chétillons. After Camille's death in 1944, his eldest son Pierre took over operations, and in 1946 the house released its first vintage under the Pierre Péters brand, the 1944. In 1967 Pierre transferred the family estate to his second son, François, who ran it until 2008, increasing the vineyard surface area and growing sales in France and abroad. Rodolphe Péters, an oenologist-winemaker, joined the family house in 2007 after 12 years in companies close to the world of wine and Champagne, and took control of the estate in 2008, focusing on the winemaking tool. The Drinks Business and Decanter both describe him as the sixth generation. The house released Rosé for Albane in 2009, a departure for a family domaine that had always produced Blanc de Blancs, and the L'Étonnant Monsieur Victor series in 2016. In 2019 it moved to new premises, celebrated its centenary with Heritage, an anniversary cuvée condensing 19 vintages made by four generations, and launched a new plot from the Montjoly lieu-dit in Le Mesnil.

• 1858: Gaspar Péters starts with about 2 hectares in Le Mesnil
• 1919: Camille Péters is among the first Champagne growers to sell bottles under his own name
• 1946: first vintage (1944) released under the Pierre Péters brand
• 2008: Rodolphe Péters takes control of the family estate
• 2019: move to new premises and the centenary cuvée Heritage

The estate vineyard of just over 19 hectares lies primarily in the Côte des Blancs, in the villages of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Cramant, and Avize, a few miles south of Epernay on a chalky outcrop. The hillside vines face east, which protects them against westerly winds. The family has developed its own mass selection over the generations and keeps vineyards that are now 30 years old on average, and it describes its farming methods as sustainable. The Drinks Business and Decanter both count 82 plots, and Decanter reports that a significant number are vinified separately before blending. Whole bunches are harvested by hand, and pressing is slow in order to isolate the juice of most interest. Fermentations take place in small stainless steel tanks under controlled temperatures, each identified by soil and pressing fraction, and the wines are raised on the lees and tasted regularly before blending. The house keeps a Perpetual Reserve with wines starting from 1988, conserved in stainless steel and concrete vats and big casks.

• Just over 19 hectares, primarily in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Cramant, and Avize
• East-facing hillside vines on a chalky outcrop
• Own mass selection; vines average 30 years
• Hand harvest; small temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks
• Perpetual Reserve from 1988 in steel, concrete, and large casks

Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons takes its name from a lieu-dit in the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, where the family owns three plots of old vines, aged over 45 years and acquired in 1930. Each parcel is vinified separately and blended to produce a single-vineyard vintage wine, made since 1971. It is a 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay produced only from one harvest year and only in the finest years, with a dosage of 3.5 to 4.5 g/L. The house calls it a pure Mesnil single vineyard and the most demanding wine in its range. Decanter's Simon Field MW notes that at Les Chétillons all the topsoil has eroded away, leaving just chalk.

• Three old-vine plots acquired in 1930
• Single-vineyard vintage wine made since 1971
• 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay, finest years only
• Dosage of 3.5 to 4.5 g/L

The house lists seven cuvées: Réserve, La Grande Réserve, Extra Brut, L'Esprit, Les Chétillons, Les Montjolys, and L'Étonnant Monsieur Victor. The Cuvée de Réserve, the flagship, is a blend of more than 20 years of harvests made exclusively from Chardonnay from Grand Cru villages in the Côte des Blancs, with a dosage of 6 to 7 g/L; Decanter reported in 2021 that it was made up of 50% base wine and 50% reserve wine. La Grande Réserve selects 4 top parcels in Le Mesnil, Avize, Cramant, and Oger, blended with about 20% of the Perpetual Reserve, and ages at least 36 months on the lees, with a dosage of 5 g/L. The Extra Brut comes from one harvest year and four Grand Cru vineyard sites, with a dosage of 2 g/L. L'Esprit, the Cuvée Millésimée, is made only in the best harvest years from 4 single vineyards in Le Mesnil, Avize, Cramant, and Oger. Les Montjolys comes from seven parcels in Le Montjoly, a Le Mesnil site with a higher percentage of clay with flints than most of the village; it sees partial malolactic fermentation and at least 6 years on the lees. L'Étonnant Monsieur Victor, first released in 2016, is a Grand Cru 100% Chardonnay multi-vintage blend of the best Perpetual Reserve vats from 1988 onward and the latest harvest from Chétillon, in almost equal quantities, aged 6 years on a natural cork, with labels personalized by Rodolphe's son Victor. Decanter also lists Réserve Oubliée, made up entirely from the Perpetual Reserve and aimed at restaurants.

The house describes its Blanc de Blancs with the words finesse, elegance, freshness, righteousness, purity, texture, and minerality. Decanter's 2017 profile finds the fine acidity and prominent chalkiness typical of the Côte des Blancs and calls the wines excellent candidates for long ageing, and Decanter's Simon Field MW wrote in 2021 that purity, precision, and discreet power are the watchwords, with dosage generally kept low. Decanter also reports that all of the exported wines are labelled Grand Cru, while the house says export accounts for more than 80% of the bottles it ships. The Drinks Business wrote in 2021 that Pierre Péters has gained a reputation for the quality of its blanc de blancs. Tours with tastings are by reservation, from Mondays to Thursdays, booked between 2 months and 1 week in advance, at 9 rue de l'Eglise, 51190 Le Mesnil sur Oger.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/home, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/historical, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/vineyard, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/winemaking, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/vintage, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/node/62, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/cuvee-reserve, https://www.champagne-peters.com/fr/historique, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/cuvee-grande-reserve, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/cuvee-extra-brut, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/cuvee-esprit, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/cuvee-les-chetillons, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/cuvee-les-montjolys, https://www.champagne-peters.com/en/cuvee-l-etonnant-monsieur-victor. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine/producer-profiles/grower-champagne-pierre-peters-270583/, https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2021/01/liberty-named-uk-agent-for-pierre-peters-champagne/, https://www.decanter.com/premium/pierre-peters-producer-profile-463873/. Last verified 2026-09-23. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.