Rodolphe has a lot of empathy for his father’s generation. “I understand their choices,” he says. “A big thing now is to complain that the previous generation picked unripe grapes, sprayed products and destroyed the planet. But when you experience the conditions and the market pressure that these guys did, you can understand them. They were not stupid. I saw my father under huge stress, losing crop after crop after crop. So, when you have a solution to protect your vineyard a little better, to produce a little more, the choice is clear – to just keep going, to preserve the family business.” The business goes from strength to strength. The vineyard is propagated using massal selection rather than using clones. Massal selection aims to preserve certain desirable characteristics in vines from old vineyards, such as an ability to ripen particularly early or late. “It’s a key element of the identity of Pierre Péters,” he says of the technique. Rodolphe cultivates a combination of early- and late-ripening Chardonnay vines, the proportions of which evolve in response to climate change. Talking to Rodolphe, the pride he feels in his vineyards is palpable. It likely runs in the family. “A Grand Cru is a *terroir* where things are easier when the weather is challenging,” he explains, “a *terroir* where you can produce, on average, better wine – whatever the weather situation.” Better weather in recent decades, Rodolphe believes, has narrowed the gap between Grand Cru-level vineyards and average *terroirs*. But as the climate becomes more challenging, he observes, that gap is widening once again – and exceptional vineyards such as top sites in the Côte des Blancs are once again proving their worth. “The vine transmits the message of the *terroir*,” he says. “If the quality of the vegetal material is not good, the message is not clear.”

Rising stars: Champagne Pierre Péters

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