Rare (Piper-Heidsieck) Brut Champagne 2013

97-99 points Essi Avellan, MW: "70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir. The 2013 vintage is so very Rare, so pure. True to the classical Rare recipe its Chardonnay origins include a luxurious amount of Villers-Marmery and Côte de Blancs Grand Cru fruit, without forgetting the all-important ‘spice’ of Montgueux. The Pinot Noir mix plays with the cool verticality of Verzy and Verzenay, but on a crisp year like this more generosity was lent from for example plush Ambonnay and Bouzy fruit. Intense, shiny bright lemon-green colour. Stunningly refined toasty nose with fine herbal freshness, lemon and birch leaves. There is a lovely vanilla-laden exotic spicy touch to the pineapple and peach fruitiness. Creamy-caressing and salivatingly energetic at the same time. There is a lovely ethereal lightness to the airy whole. Perfectly pure and compact, promising extreme longevity and capacity for majestic complexity. (Apr 2023)"

98 points Audrey Frick (JebDunnuck.com): "Originally a part of the legendary Piper-Heidsieck Champagne house, Rare is moving their Champagne Millésime to a new brand and want it to stand alone. (Think Delamotte and Salon.) The 13th vintage for this cuvée, the 2013 Champagne Millésime is a blend is 70% Chardonnay with the rest Pinot Noir, with the majority of the blend coming from the Montagne de Reims Grand Cru and Premier Cru. A bright yellow hue, its aromatics are exquisite and well-balanced, with fresh notes of key lime, candied apple, fresh croissant dough, fresh pineapple, and honeysuckle. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with a rounded and supple texture and a pillowy mousse. It’s long on the palate and has a silky personality as well as a long, pristine finish. It has fantastic balance of decadence and freshness, and I could drink this all day. It’s going to have a long drinking window. Disgorged December 2022. Drink: 2024-2045. (11/17/23)"

97 points Tyson Stelzer (The Champagne Guide): "(tasted in 2023 in France; 70% chardonnay, 30% pinot noir, as always; from 11 villages, 7 grand crus and 3 premier crus; chardonnay from Villers-Marmery, Vaudemange, Verzy, Ambonnay, Avize, Chouilly, Oger and Montgueux, pinot noir from Verzy, Ambonnay, Verzenay, Bouzy and Tauxières, with the southern Montagne de Reims and in particular Ambonnay and Oger in place of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger to balance the freshness of the vintage; fully fermented in stainless-steel tanks; full malolactic fermentation; 9g/L dosage like 2008, determined by blind tasting; less than 5% of the production volume of Piper-Heidsieck). There is an inherent personality of flamboyant glamour and polished refinement that sets off the wonderful cuvées of Rare, and this mood sits magnificently in the elegant tension of Champagne's cooler seasons, of which 2008 and 2013 are the finest so far this millennium. I love the transparent detail with which this vintage articulates its distinct elements and yet does so with a mesmerisingly dreamy, silky seamlessness. Pinot noir is here in its impeccable, cool season red fruit crunch of perfect red cherries and strawberries, chardonnay is prominent in both white nectarine succulence and lemon freshness, and the blessing of a decade in the deep is confidently manifest in a glide of creamy, custardy texture and nuances of vanilla bean, fresh butter and dried pear. Every beautiful element is on grand display and yet each is fused together in perfect, seamless, swirling parallel harmony, like the most detailed Damascus steel. Exhilaratingly intoxicating from the outset, it holds medium-term potential. (Edition VII; 2024)"

97 points (Decanter): "70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir. Incredibly rich and smouldering with savoury nuts, toast and a piercing tang of bitter lemon with a fabulous silky texture imparting finesse and stature. Full of verve with gleaming waves of acidity and a lavish long length. (DWWA 2024)"

97 points Bettane & Desseauve Guide (2024).

96 points James Suckling: "Such a pleasingly elegant and multifaceted Champagne with salty, creamy and toasty elements all wound together. Plenty of apricot pastries, pears, brown butter, fennel and salted almonds, with some iodine. It’s silky on the palate, with soft and supple bubbles, while remaining fresh and on edge. 70% chardonnay and 30% pinot noir, from 11 cru villages mostly in Montagne de Reims with Cotes de Blancs. Disgorged December 2022. 9 g/L dosage. Drink or hold. (5/9/23)"

95 points Wine Spectator: "[$260 list] An elegant, finessed Champagne, with the creamy mousse carrying a finely meshed yet concentrated range of blackberry puree and poached apricot flavors, plus blood orange peel, salted pistachio and aromatic accents of verbena, chalk and oyster shell. Shows mouthwatering acidity that carries the complex profile on the long finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Drink now through 2038. 500 cases imported. (11/30/23)"

95 points Wine Enthusiast: "[$260 list] The Champagne's name is just right. It has a rare finesse that gives it a wonderful tense character. Poised between dryness, great maturity and dense fruit, the wine is ready to drink. (Dec 2023)"