We virtually never post reviews in this blog space, but this is an exception worth making. I’ve been reviewing wines professionally for 16 years, but have never given a perfect 100-point score. Until now.
This is largely because I spent most of those years reviewing for The Washington Post, where my reviews didn’t include scores at all. However, during the four years since we launched Wine Review Online, I’ve just never quite hit a wine that could overwhelm my reticence about awarding a perfect score. How can a wine be “perfect” anyway? Couldn’t a wine always have a little more of something that would make it better? Wouldn’t another wine of the same type come along eventually that would be just a little more interesting, making the initial 100-point score look erroneous?
Well, I finally found a wine so beautiful that it overcame these 
barriers to awarding a triple-digit score. The review appears below, provided here on Valentine’s Day because the wine is expensive–and you may need the holiday to help justify a purchase!
Piper-Heidsieck, Champagne (France) “Rare” 1999 ($250, Remy-Cointreau): This deserves its triple-digit score because it is a perfect wine, in the sense that it is utterly flawless and so strong in all respects that I cannot imagine how adding anything could really make it any better. It is one of the three best Champagnes that I have ever tasted, along with Krug Clos du Mesnil 1979 and Philipponnat Clos des Goisses 1996, and only a few red wines that I’ve tasted (such as 1982 Cheval Blanc) can match it for intricacy, symmetry, and sheer beauty. It is really a medium-bodied wine rather than a powerhouse, yet the aromas, flavors and finish are extremely expressive and utterly compelling despite the fact that the wine isn’t built for power. At this point in its development, my bottle (and it pains me to point out that Champagnes do vary from bottle to bottle) was perfectly developed, with layers of secondary aromas but also a wonderfully fresh core of primary fruit. The acidity was abundant but very ripe and perfectly tuned to the light sweetness of the fruit, and the wine’s mousse was abundant but very delicate and, in terms of texture, perfectly tuned to the wine’s weight and linear drive. This is a stunning achievement. 100 Points
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