Champagne Guy Larmandier, Vertus 1er Cru, Brut Rose NV

Well—happy New Year’s Eve, everybody. What a year it’s been. We finally launched The Caubleist last month, and I can’t thank you enough for the support, encouragement, and belief. Tonight, I’ll be opening a bottle of this Champagne to celebrate the year, surrounded by some of my favorite people and a towering spread of seafood—exactly how it should be done. I hope you’ve got something brilliant planned wherever you are, and here’s to rolling into 2026 with good friends, good food, and great bottles. Today’s rosé Champagne comes from Guy Larmandier, a small grower whose wines I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. This Rosé stands apart from the pack—elegant, precise, and confidently composed. I tasted it recently alongside far more expensive bottles, and it was the clear standout, delivering a level of refinement that frankly embarrassed the rest of the table. The aromatics are alive, the palate perfectly dialed—polished, complete, and effortlessly fresh—and if I were sitting down to a Michelin three-star meal, this is exactly the style of Champagne I’d want in the glass. If you love Billecart-Salmon’s iconic Rosé for its freshness, pitch-perfect balance, and refined finesse, this strikes a very similar emotional chord—just with more terroir transparency and grower soul. Sourced from chalk-driven vineyards, it delivers lift and purity in a category where too many rosés feel heavy or blunt, and best of all, the price hasn’t gone completely off the rails, making the quality-to-value ratio here firmly on point.

All of the fruit for this Champagne comes from the small village of Vertus, in the southern stretch of the Côte des Blancs—a Premier Cru long prized for Chardonnay of tension, finesse, and mineral drive. Leaving Épernay, you wind southeast through rolling vineyards, the road narrowing as the chalky slopes of the Côte des Blancs come into sharper focus. As Peter Liem explains in his essential book Champagne, Vertus marks a subtle but important shift in soil expression: deep Campanian chalk remains the backbone, joined by a greater presence of clay and limestone fragments that add breadth and texture without sacrificing precision. The wines here are defined by their saline edge, structural depth, and mineral clarity—traits that make Vertus particularly compelling not only for white Champagne, but for rosé when handled with restraint and intention.

Guy Larmandier is a classic, family-run Champagne estate rooted firmly in Vertus, founded in the mid-1970s by Guy and Colette Larmandier, long before grower Champagne became fashionable. Since Guy’s passing, the domaine has remained entirely in family hands, today guided by Colette alongside their children, who continue to steward the vineyards and cellar with the same disciplined, no-shortcuts philosophy. The family farms roughly nine hectares across the Côte des Blancs, centered in Vertus with additional parcels in Cuis, Chouilly, and Cramant—an enviable mix of Premier and Grand Cru terroir. Everything is done by hand, from vineyard work to harvest, and the cellar approach is unapologetically traditional: gentle pressing, slow fermentations, extended aging on lees, and restrained dosage. The Rosé is built on a Chardonnay base from Vertus, blended with 15% Pinot Noir, then aged 36 months on the lees and finished with 6 grams of dosage, delivering texture and savory depth while preserving freshness, precision, and mineral drive.

In the glass, the wine opens with dried strawberry, red currant, and blood orange brioche, followed by rose petal, crushed stone, and a subtle savory note that adds complexity rather than sweetness. The palate is crisp, finely detailed, and beautifully proportioned, with delicate mousse, bright, finely tuned acidity, and a long, chalk-driven finish that feels more like a great white Champagne wearing a pink jacket than a fruit-forward rosé. This is Champagne built for the table—exceptional with oysters, shellfish towers, caviar, charcuterie, roast chicken, or lightly seared tuna—and it rewards proper glassware: the traditional tall, narrow flute compresses aromatics and mutes texture, while a modern, larger-mouthed Champagne stem or even a white wine glass allows the wine to open, soften, and fully express its mineral precision. Serve it well-chilled, give it a moment to breathe, and let it do its thing—this is serious rosé Champagne, refined, expressive, and deeply satisfying.