Lecompte’s entire range, including this rosé, is subjected to exceptionally long lees aging before disgorgement and release; leaving the wines in contact with their spent yeasts cells for so long lends them exceptionally silky textures and greater aromatic complexity, and a quality many Champagne producers call ‘vinosity.’ As I’ve noted before, Champagne is wine, so of course it’s ‘vinous’—but as anyone who drinks a lot of Champagne knows, some are clearly more vinous than others, so much so that they’re almost more profound and enjoyable after their effervescence has dissipated somewhat. We have offered Lecompte’s rosé in the past, but this latest release takes it to another level—which I wouldn’t have thought possible, but here we are.

Founded in 1876 by the Lecompte family and based entirely in Rilly-la-Montagne, Lecompte is the ultimate example of “grower-produced” Champagne: proprietor François Lecompte works in a cellar dug by his grandfather and in vineyards all classified as Premier Cru, producing a trickle of bottles in comparison to the grandes marques, or “great houses.” There are more than 15,000 grape growers in the Champagne region, a majority of whom sell their grapes either to local cooperatives or to one of the 40 or so larger “houses,” who represent more than two-thirds of all Champagne produced. In pitting their little-guy grower Champagnes against the big boys, many of our importer/distributor friends frame it in good-versus-evil, big-equals-bad terms, which isn’t our objective here: there’s plenty of fantastic Champagne made by the grandes marques, there just also happens to be a steady stream of “new” grower-producers coming to our shores with a compelling story to tell. François Lecompte has proved as compelling as any, and this rosé, comprising 40% Chardonnay and 30% each Pinot Noir and Meunier, is a perfect introduction to this jewel box of a property.

Lecompte’s rosé is incredibly consistent each year. In the glass it displays a pale salmon-pink with hints of copper at the rim. Aromas of rose petals, pomegranate and orange peel leap from the glass and are layered with more savory notes of dried mushroom, raw hazelnut, and crushed white stones. Medium-bodied and beautifully textured, there’s a lot of depth and equally a lot of tension bringing it all together. This wine can work well as an apéritif or a ‘main course’ wine, and as always, I recommend enjoying it in larger wine stems (not flutes) at a slightly warmer (50 degrees) temperature than is typically recommended. The last few times we offered this rosé I paired it with Thomas Keller’s salmon “cornets,” which is about as good as it gets! Cheers!