Champagne Laherte Frères Les Beaudiers Rosé de Saignée NV Base 14. Disg. Feb 2018

Les Beaudiers is a rosé de saignée drawn entirely from old Pinot Meunier vines planted in the 1950s and 1960s at Chavot.

Saignée is the older and less common route to pink Champagne: rather than blending a little red wine into a white base, the juice is left on the skins and then bled off, taking colour and structure with it. Laherte Frères, a grower house at Chavot in the Coteaux Sud d'Épernay, uses the method for this parcel, where Meunier planted in 1953, 1958 and 1965 grows alongside a scattering of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Fromenteau. Aurélien Laherte macerates the fruit for only twelve to sixteen hours, ferments on indigenous yeasts, and then ages the wine at least four years before disgorgement, with dosage between zero and five grams depending on the year. This bottling is built on the 2014 harvest and was disgorged in February 2018.

Ready to drink and sturdy enough for the table rather than the aperitif hour. Serve at 8°C with duck, tuna or a plate of jamón.