2010 Drappier Grande Sendree Rose

With a dosage of 4.3 grams per liter, the 2010 Brut Rosé Grande Sendrée is a blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. It offers up a distinctive, complex bouquet of guava, strawberries, rhubarb, wild plums and spices. Medium to full-bodied, vinous and structured, it’s layered with an enveloping core of fruit and an exotic finish.

The 2010 Champagne Grande Sendrée Rosé is 20% Chardonnay and 80% saignée method Pinot Noir that spent ten years on the lees. Pale salmon-hued with a hint of copper, the nose is elegant and fresh, with ripe stone fruit, apricot, peach, strawberry, and fresh flowers. The palate is dry and structured, with citrus pith and grapefruit, and its tannic grip makes this a gastronomic style to have at the table. Drink 2023-2033. Drappier is an eighth generation family house based in the Aube. Although their focus is predominantly on Pinot Noir, they continue to farm the heirloom varietals of Fromenteau, Arbanne, Petit Meslier, and Blanc Vrai. Today they own 62 hectares, of which 7 hectares are entirely farmed with horses and the rest with electric vehicles, and they have contracts with additional growers. In 2005, they began producing their own electricity and in 2015 they became accredited as carbon neutral. They have also made advancements to reduce their footprint by producing the lighter glass bottles they use today.

Disgorged in April 2018 with six grams per liter dosage, the Pinot Noir–dominated 2010 Brut Rosé Grande Sendrée is showing very well, offering up an attractive bouquet of raspberries, wild plums, rhubarb and spices. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, vinous and tightly wound, with racy acids, a concentrated core of fruit and a sapid finish. This is a very serious Champagne that’s still playing its cards close to its vest, and it will amply repay five or six years’ patience, even if it can be pleasurably broached sooner.