Piper Heidsieck Flute Cup
Florens-Louis Heidsieck was the son of a Westphalian Lutheran minister. He moved to Reims to work as a clothing merchant and there he discovered the magic of winemaking. He began making his own wine in 1780 and although he was neither a winemaker nor a native of Reims, he was talented and put effort into his new profession. He founded his own House of Wine on July 16, 1785. He had already become an expert in this art and even dedicated one of his wines to Queen Marie Antoinette. In addition, he was given the honour of being able to present his wine to His Highness in person. When Florens-Louis Heidsieck died in 1828, his nephew and business partner Christian Heidsieck took over Maison Heidsieck in partnership with his cousin, Henri Guillaume Piper.
Piper, an exceptionally gifted businessman, traveled the world promoting Heidsieck Champagne as an entrepreneur of his time. Fourteen royal and imperial courts made them their official supplier, and before long, "Heidsieck by Piper" was the only champagne drunk by true aficionados. And so the wine, with quality standards strictly defined by Florens-Louis Heidsieck himself, soon became known as "Piper-Heidsieck".
In October 1838, these names became even closer when Henri Piper married. ...with Christian Heidsieck's widow!
On 1 January 1851, Henri Piper brought his cousin JC Kunkelmann into the partnership.
On the occasion of the House's centenary in 1885, they commissioned the famous jeweller of the Russian royal court, Fabergé, to make an ornament of gold, lapis lazuri and diamonds and to decorate the special champagne produced for the occasion with it.
After JC Kunkelmann's death, his son continued. Later, his daughter and son-in-law took over the business and the house remained in the hands of the family.
In 1985, Piper-Heidsieck celebrated its bicentennial with great pomp at the Palace of Versailles.
In the late 1980s, Piper-Heidsieck partnered with the internationally renowned wine and spirits company Rémy Cointreau.
In 1997, Piper-Heidsieck decided to use the colour red to highlight its proud and innovative personality and show it to the whole world on its bottles.
