Champagne Laherte Frères Les Beaudiers Rosé de Saignée NV Base 13. Disg. Mar 2016

Les Beaudiers is a saignée rosé made entirely from old Pinot Meunier planted at Chavot in the 1950s and 1960s, here on the 2013 harvest.

Laherte Frères is a grower house at Chavot in the Coteaux Sud d'Épernay, an area where Meunier rather than Pinot Noir or Chardonnay dominates the plantings. The family has been there since 1889 and Aurélien Laherte, the seventh generation, has run the estate since 2005, farming some seventy-five parcels over about ten hectares with biodynamic preparations, plant infusions and cover crops. Les Beaudiers comes from old Meunier planted in 1953, 1958 and 1965, with a scattering of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Fromenteau among the rows. The juice is macerated on the skins for only twelve to sixteen hours and then bled off, so colour and grip come from the fruit rather than from blending a red wine into a white base. The wine is aged at least four years before disgorgement and dosed between zero and five grams.

Ready to drink and better with food than as a pure aperitif. Serve at around 8°C with charcuterie, duck breast or a bowl of cherries. This bottling was disgorged in March 2016.