By now, Regulars know that André Clouet is one of our favorite Grower-Champagnes. We offer Clouet every time we get the chance, which is never often enough. Our customers frequently ask when more is arriving on our shores. Well, today is the day, and this time it’s their phenomenal No.3 Grand Cru Brut Rosé.
100% Pinot Noir from the Grand Cru village of Bouzy and aged on its lees for many years, this full-bodied, fresh and mineral-driven pink lady drinks well above major Champagne houses’ rosés for a fraction of the price. It is a beauty of dizzying complexity and serious depth that will make you wonder why you ever paid exorbitant prices for the most famous house’s rosés when André Clouet’s No.3 tastes this good. The incredibly small producer only crafts a tiny amount and an even smaller number reaches our shores.
André Clouet’s family history is almost as storied and labyrinthine as his Bouzy chalk cellars, which actually still include partial false walls originally constructed to hide their precious bottles from the Nazis during World War II. When sparkler-devotee-extraordinaire Winston Churchill quipped, “Gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for, it’s Champagne,” he wasn’t kidding. But this is only the Clouet family’s recent history. The Clouets were once the official printers to Louis XV’s Royal Court at Versailles, hence the beauty of the bottle’s label. André still calls his family’s 17th century estate home. True to family legacy, he respectfully draws from tradition and time-honored techniques of the past while embracing modern technology, which definitely advances the quality of his remarkable wines. To say that you would be hard-pressed to find a Grand Cru Rosé Champagne of this quality for $50 would be a gross understatement – and you definitely will not find one that tastes like this.
Derived from the prime mid-slopes of the Grand Cru village of Bouzy, this rosé is crafted from 100% Pinot Noir predominantly from the 2010 and 2012 vintages. 10% still-wine Pinot Noir is added to a Blanc de Noir base. The No.3 designation was created by André to assist customers in judging the color and body of his wine. The numbers range from 1 to 10 with 1 being the lightest in color. This wine is aged in climate-controlled stainless steel then disgorged and given a low six grams per liter of dosage. With incredible terroir, extended lees aging, and meticulous winemaking, this particular rosé offers an incredibly balanced combination of ripe fruit, texture, depth and minerality that is simply firing on all cylinders and will soar to further heights with time.
This André Clouet No.3 Grand Cru Brut Rosé displays a concentrated light pink core with green and pink highlights on the meniscus and very fine beading that slowly works its way through the viscous liquid. The aromatics are perfectly balanced with intense notes of wild strawberry, cherry blossoms, orange peel, lemon zest and rose petal candy and are deepened by fragrances of rising brioche and austere crushed chalk. The near full-bodied palate is densely filled with wild red berry fruit that possess a slight sweetness underscored by wet roses and creamy brioche flavors that are bolstered by crushed minerals. This is not your angular Champagne; it boasts a rich, yeasty texture that delivers pleasure that is anything but simple. Delightful in its youth, this wine’s fruit will drop out in favor of savory notes over the next 3-5 years - so put a few bottles away. If enjoying a bottle now, simply refrigerate and bring out the bottle ten minutes prior to serving at around 45-50 degrees. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of serving this wine in an open mouth flute or even an all-purpose glass; a tall, thin flute will stifle the otherwise magical aromatics. This is a serious rosé with no shortage of personality, which makes it ideal for a main course with options as varied as venison, roasted pork or wild boar. I personally recommend this recipe for duck prepared with port-cherry sauce and served with kale.
