Champagne Valentin Leflaive, MA 17 60, Rosé, Grand Cru, Brut

Champagne Valentin Leflaive

Located in Oger, one of the Cote des Blancs’ most prestigious appellations, Valentin Leflaive brings together the very best of Champagne and Burgundy. The Leflaive family have worked the soils of Puligny Montrachet since 1580, only expanding to Champagne in 2015. Here, owner Olivier Leflaive brings decades of Burgundian know-how and a passionate, exacting approach to his winemaking.

Through careful plot selection and a single varietal approach, Olivier and his team have created some wonderful interpretations of Champagne, rich in expressions of their terroir. Old Puligny Montrachet and Le Montrachet barrels are used to age the Valentin Leflaive Champagnes and add layers of complexity.

In a nod to the importance of terroir and the individual handling of each wine, every bottle is marked with a unique code. Specific terroirs, dosage and base wine are all clearly marked on every label, demonstrating the uniqueness of each cuvée’s characteristics.

Rosé Champagne

Rosé wines are produced by leaving the juice of red grapes to macerate on their skins for a brief time to extract pigments (natural colourings). However, Rosé Champagne is notable in that it is produced by the addition of a small percentage of red wine – usually Pinot Noir from the village of Bouzy – during blending.

Recommended Producers : Billecart Salmon (Elizabeth Salmon Rose), Ruinart

Champagne blend

Which grapes are included in the blend, and their proportion, is one of the key factors determining the style of most Champagnes. Three grapes are used - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.

26% of vineyards in Champagne are planted with Chardonnay and it performs best on the Côtes des Blancs and on the chalk slopes south of Epernay. It is relatively simple to grow, although it buds early and thus is susceptible to spring frosts. It produces lighter, fresher wines than those from Burgundy and gives finesse, fruit and elegance to the final blend. It is the sole grape in Blancs de Blancs, which are some of the richest long-lived Champagnes produced.

Pinot Noir accounts for nearly 40% of the plantings in Champagne and lies at the heart of most blends - it gives Champagne its body, structure, strength and grip. It is planted across Champagne and particularly so in the southern Aube district.

The final component is Pinot Meunier and this constitutes nearly 35% of the plantings. Its durability and resistance to spring frosts make the Marne Valley, a notorious frost pocket, its natural home. It ripens well in poor years and produces a soft, fruity style of wine that is ideal for blending with the more assertive flavours of Pinot Noir. Producers allege that Pinot Meunier lacks ageing potential, but this does not deter Krug from including around 15% of it in their final blends.