Pierre Peters Cuvee Speciale "Les Chetillons" Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru 2017
(Champagne, France) - [JS 97] [JD 96] [VM 95] [WA 94+]

Notes from the Winemaker
The grapes used to compose this vintage come from three aged parcels located in the beautiful terroir of Les Chétillons at Le Mesnil sur Oger. The minerality of the chalky soil is evident in this 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay. As always with a vintage Champagne, it is produced exclusively using the grapes from one harvest year and only during the finest years. 

Terroir of “Chétillon” is situated in the Grand Cru village of Les Mesnil sur Oger and enjoys an almost perfect aspect. Three parcels from this terroir, ranging from 40 to 70 years, yield the grapes used to make this legendary cuvee. They are vinified separately and undergo different vinifications. Partial Malo since 2008, the cuvée always result from the best possible blend made of the three parcels. Each vintage is aged at least 6 years on the lees before disgorgement. These vines, impacted by the quality of the terroir and our mass selection practices, provide the definitive statement of the particular style of this village. A style which resides in mineral power, incredible purity and a capacity to age.

Cépage: 100% Chardonnay

Village/Vyd: Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru; Les Chétillons

Malo: Partial, 60% 

Élevage: Stainless steel 

Sur Latte: 70+ Months

Ratings & Reviews:

97 Points - James Suckling:
I like the crushed hazelnut, brioche and dried lemon aromas. Walnuts, chalk and persimmons, too. It’s concentrated, with lots of power and generosity while remaining fresh and minerally. Creamy mousse. Very long, pulling you back for more. Selected from four parcels. Disgorged July 2024. Drink or hold.

96 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
A pale straw color, the 2017 Champagne Blanc De Blancs Les Chettions Cuvée Speciale Brut is more savory but better with long-term aging, while maintaining a mouthwatering, crunchy freshness. It offers good persistence, concentration, and structure, and is focused and linear. There’s ripeness, but it also has a chiseled cut, perhaps with a touch more Meyer lemon and salted white pineapples. 4 grams per liter dosage.

95 Points - Vinous:
The 2017 Brut Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons shows why this is such a great site and also illustrates the difference between chalk here and clay in Les Montjolys. Bright saline notes cut through a core of citrus peel, slate, chalk, mint and white pepper. This is classic Chétillons from start to finish. All of the Chétillons signatures are present, perhaps slightly attenuated in this vintage, but not by much. The long, sustained finish is another hallmark of this first-rate site in Mesnil. Dosage is 4 grams per liter. Disgorged: July 2024. (Drink between 2025-2035)

94+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:

Derived from three old-vine parcels within the same lieu-dit, the 2017 Brut Blanc de Blancs Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons, disgorged in July 2024 with four grams per liter dosage, is structurally open today, but Rodolphe predicts it will tighten up with more time post disgorgement, as I’m sure it will. Opening in the glass to reveal notes of fresh almond, iodine, clams and citrus fruit, it is flamboyant and charming. Less youthfully austere and more demonstrative than the 2016 vintage rendition, it is Les Chétillons with a more powerful musculature, balanced by a bright spine of acidity and concluding with a long, saline finish. More mineral-laced than the Les Montjolys of the same year, one will want to consider laying down the bottles as they refine with age. It’s the first release where Péters decided to extend aging sur lattes for six more months (from six years to six and a half years), followed by a year post-disgorgement, a decision based on tasting.