Les Beaudiers Rosé de Saignée Vieilles Vignes Extra Brut Champagne Pinot Meunier

Christmas Eve bottle. Paired wonderfully with honey glazed ham and bacon & green chili hash brown casserole!

Jan 2019 disgorgement. Before opening, this evokes tasting notes of Ulysse Collin’s rosé (a true favorite of mine). The frosted bottle, the deep color, and even the initial aromatics. From across the room, you’d likely call this red burgundy. When diving in to it, notes of licorice, cinnamon, cardamom and rhubarb come to mind. Catches you off guard. On the palate, it’s super vinous and dense, yet has so much classical meunier notes of gummy red fruits, floral notes of violets, and a unique sugar frosted cranberry note toward the finish. What sets this apart from most is the finish when paired with food...it turns almost savory and there is zero sweetness or tart notes. Any type of food seems to make this infinitely better. There is tannin and weight too, which has this drinking like a red burg when the right food pairing is taking place. Delicious, and a no brainer for buying again.

I kept coming back to this, with its tart red fruit but substantial backbone and compelling vinosity.

L2014