Champagne Laherte Frères Rosé de Meunier NV Base 17. Disg. Oct 2020

Rosé de Meunier is Laherte Frères' pink Champagne made entirely from Meunier, assembled from three separate treatments of the one variety.

The Laherte family has farmed at Chavot in the Coteaux Sud d'Épernay since 1889, and Aurélien Laherte, the fourth generation, has run the estate since 2005; Meunier is the dominant grape on these slopes south of Épernay and this cuvée sets out to show what it can do on its own. The blend is built from Meunier vinified off the skins for the bulk of the wine, a portion given a short skin maceration and bled off for colour and flesh, and about a tenth as still red Meunier. The base here is the 2017 harvest, supported by the estate's reserve wine. Fermentation runs largely in wood with indigenous yeasts across the ten-odd hectares of small parcels the estate divides its holdings into, the wine rests on its lees, and it is disgorged by hand with a dosage of only a couple of grams.

Drink now rather than keep it long; serve at about 8°C with charcuterie, duck breast or a bowl of summer berries.