Champagne Fleur de Miraval Rosé

An extraordinary achievement this, made by the famously difficult saignée method, yet with a wonderful onion skin colour and poised aromas of lemongrass, small red berried fruit and pink grapefruit. Rodolphe Péters from the eponymous Champagne house in Le Mesnil sur Oger demonstrates why he is seen as one of the very finest winemakers in Champagne, coaxing wonderful complexity from his reserve wines ( aged in a solera) and ensuring definition and purity from the base wines, the purity and elegance of the 25% Pinot Noir component quite breathtaking. Despite the relatively modest time on lees (three years), there is definite pedigree here, and, given the aspiration to forge a new style of rosé, a triumphant aura of complexity and latent potential. Rodolphe already has a reputation for making some of the finest Chardonnay-based Champagnes; now the inspired partnership with the Perrins of Beaucastel, who, it has to be admitted, know a thing or two about red wine, has yielded a hugely impressive debut for the Fleur de Miraval. Behind these two winemaking giants there is the owner, a certain Brad Pitt, who has achieved a degree of success elsewhere (!) but who has been surprisingly hands-on with this project, as of course he is at sister company Miraval in Provence. Not a bad team, all in all. What’s more, this wine is appreciably different to the other prestige rosé Champagnes on the market, without in any way losing out in terms of profundity, or, at a more basic level, the power to give pleasure. The very high expectations have been matched... and then some!

Based on the 2016 vintage, the NV Exclusivement Rosé 1 is the impressive debut release from Fleur de Miraval. Bursting with aromas of blood orange, white tea, raspberries, lemon, warm bread and biscuits, it's full-bodied, layered and fleshy, with a vinous profile and tangy acids, concluding with a mineral finish. It's a blend of some 25% rosé de saignée from Vertus, with the balance Chardonnay, the base vintage being complemented by around one-third reserve wines dating back to 2012 (which Péters created from bottles "remis en circle"), which are now stored in a wooden foudre.

Aromas of dried strawberries and flowers with some fresh peaches and white pepper. Fragrant wine. Full-bodied with a creamy texture, fine bubbles and a fresh, delicious and soft finish. A friendly and delicious wine. From actor Brad Pitt and his French wine project called Miraval.