NV Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Extra Brut Rose De Saignee Premier Cru 750 ml

"Run, don't walk." That's how Vinous advises getting to Champagne Larmandier-Bernier's current release of the Extra Brut Rosé de Saignée—a Premier Cru crown jewel from the region's marquee grower-producer. No need for a special occasion. This is bubbly that tickles your lips into an unremitting smile, then draws out your inner Zen with a koan-like balance of flavors. 

It’s one of the most purely enjoyable wines you can find. The pinpoint mousse of this rosé floats beautifully on a delicate salmon-colored core (about the color of a Bandol Rosé) that relaxes into a deeper repose, vibrant fruit beneath a whisper of chalk smoke. 

Everyone who tries it is stunned, including Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, who called it “simply stunning,” in their 96-point review, adding it’s "one of the most exciting rosé bottlings being produced in all of Champagne." Antonio Galloni says it "sizzles with tension," endowed as it is "with stunning depth." He also honored it with 95 points. "Just sensational." 

This level of critical praise is reserved for only the most potent and singular expressions on the market, and we locked in the last 60 cases in America. For our members, who have consistently raved about this producer, the Rosé de Saignée is a rare gem inside a rare gem. So if you like Champagne—but really, if you like great wine of any kind—we recommend grabbing at least a case. We'll be stacking it high at home, to be sure. 

Because beyond the scores and irresistible pricing, this wine has serious depth. As it opens up and the subtler vinous characteristics show through, it drinks something like a Chambolle-Musigny with bubbles. Refined, fragrant, explosive in its intensity. But nonlinear, too. 

The prettier floral and minty-fruit aromas that greet the nose give way to unusually concentrated Morello cherry and blood orange flavors, shot through with streaks of nutty, savory vermouth. 

That unique complexity comes from a range of factors. The Larmandier family—including husband and wife Pierre and Sophie and (since 2017) their son Arthur—biodynamically farm a mere 45 acres of Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards in Vertus, in Champagne's Côte de Blancs. The famed Campanian-chalk soils and long exposures provide the perfect conditions for making wines that speak directly from the land and combine ethereal minerality with cascading flavors of fruit and earth. Long aging on the lees gives it added heft that you notice through the long, fragrant finish.

Most of their bottlings (including our last offer from Larmandier-Bernier, the Longitude, a Wine Access favorite) focus on Chardonnay. But in the Rosé de Saignée, the Larmandiers blend 90% Pinot Noir with a highly unusual 10% Pinot Gris. They then let the grapes ferment in large concrete egg-shaped tanks, allowing the wines to develop with some oxygen influence but without the added tannins found in oak barrels. The wines don't need it. They are incredibly structured as it is, with starbright acidity and just enough tannins from the added still wine to coat your mouth and bring you back salivating for more. Definitely one for the dinner table.

Every house approaches the reserve concept for non-vintage wines a little differently. Larmandier-Bernier keeps a perpetual blend going, somewhat like a solera, containing a fractional amount of vintages dating back many years. This method gives the wine great consistency from one bottling to the next, so that if members fall as hard for the Rosé de Saignée as we did, they know future bottlings will be every bit as awesome as this one.