Larmandier-Bernier - Rosé de Saignée Premier Cru Extra-Brut MV

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Based on the 2019 vintage, the new NV Extra-Brut Rosé de Saignée is a rich, gastronomic wine, delivering aromas of raspberries and cherries mingled with notions of kirsch, warm spices and petals. Medium to full-bodied, layered and fleshy, with racy acids and a pretty pinpoint mousse, it's a vinous Champagne that would work well at table.

In the 1990s, Pierre Larmandier and his wife Sophie began to work the soils of their vineyards and abandoned the use of herbicides, moving toward organic and then biodynamic farming. They have had few imitators:

La Revue du Vin de France

Champagne Club by Richard Juhlin

Pure Vertus from the same hill where Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grow together. Top class grapes are selected on the sorting belt and macerate for 2-3 days for the right color. After that, the alcoholic fermentation takes place with wild yeast in a steel tank and concrete eggs. The storage in the bottle is short to keep the fruit and the dosage is, as usual, a low 2 grams of sugar. Dark and gastronomic like so many Rosé de Saignée in the new wave. Unfortunately, this creation does not join the best in the category. Why not? Hasn't the winemaker of the year 2022 Pierre Larmandier done a good job? Yes, but Pinot Noir from Vertus never reaches the very top, no matter how skilled you are. In addition, this particular product must be stored for 10 years to be at its peak as the tannin content and peel notes require time rounding.

Tim Atkin

The Wine Independent

Bettane et Desseauve

Wine Enthusiast

Vinum Wine Magazine

Tom Cannavan

Old vine Pinot Noir from 1er Cru vineyards in Vertus, this is made by bleeding some colour from the Pinot grapes at the start of fermentation. It's Extra Brut, so dry with only around 3g/l of sugar, but ageing for two years on the lees and six more months on the bottle adds richness. Filled with small, taut red fruit aromas - redcurrant and raspberry - it is vinous for sure, the PInot heritage clear as it strikes the palate with real authority: tight, crisp tannins and acids, the little bullets of hard red fruits giving crunch and presence, and the mousse and touch of leesy creaminess softening the picture into a long, crisply-defined finish. Terrific, thought-provoking pink Champagne.

Jeb Dunnuck

From soils in Vertus that have a deeper topsoil with clay, the saturated pink-hued NV Champagne Rosé De Saignée is highly aromatic, opening to ripe aromas of black cherry, crushed flowers, and a savory note. Made from 90% Pinot Noir and the rest Pinot Gris, from the 2020 vintage (but not labeled as 2020 because it wasn’t aged long enough), it’s full-bodied and juicy on the palate, with approachable fruit and a saline saltiness that pins it together nicely. It’s ripe and long on the palate and has a clean finish, with a lively mousse. With ripe tannin structure, a pithy texture, and notes of nectarine and blood orange through the finish, it’s a very pretty wine to enjoy over the coming 10 years. 10-12,000 bottles produced. 2 grams per liter of dosage.

James Suckling

A blend of pinot noir with 10-15% pinot gris, co-planted ten years ago, in amongst 45-year-old vines. The nose is very floral with papaya and pink grapefruit, some praline and fresh, rose-like florals. The palate has the same hit of fragrant roses with plenty of peaches and a silky, smoothly textural palate. The entire parcel is macerated for between three and four days, for texture more than color. Very unique. Drink now.