Henriet-Bazin, a name everyone needs to immediately memorize, is everything that Champagne should represent: It’s sourced from estate-owned vines, meticulously crafted, and sports unbelievable complexity for under $50. This equal parts Pinot Noir-Chardonnay rosé is farmed from barely three hectares of prized Grand Cru vines (see story for visuals) and the reserve wines blended into it come from a perpetual “solera” that was first started in 1968. That’s 50 years of history in one bottle of wine, yet the family’s roots go back much further:
Founded in 1890 by Gaston Henriet and a few grape growing neighbors, they became one of the select few farming operations at the time who had the courage and determination to bottle their very own wines instead of selling off their entire crop to the flourishing Grand Marques. With 130 years of continuous farming AND winemaking under their belt, today’s rosé has been crafted to absolute perfection. Boundless opulence, incredible precision, and classic chalk minerality; it epitomizes what I believe to be the heart and soul of Champagne without artificially cranking up the price! If you like the richness of Clouet, Bollinger, and other top houses, you should enthusiastically stock what little amount of Henriet-Bazin we have today—only six per person.
As Gaston Henriet and friends continued crafting their wine, they also kept selling part of their crop to the Grand Marques in order to temper some of their expensive production costs. Forty diligent, hard earned years passed and by 1930 his son, Robert, was carrying the torch at full speed: He began marketing their brand at Parisian fairs and incrementally held back more of their harvest each year—nearly 50% at this time. After the marriage of Daniel Henriet (Robert’s son) and Micheline Bazin in 1968, the business merged to incorporate both surnames and subsequently, Micheline’s prime vineyard real estate in the Premier Cru village of Villers-Marmery. Since 1991, Daniel’s daughter Marie-Noelle Henriet has represented the fifth generation. She was integral in pushing her father to vinify 100% of their crop, has helped expand their acreage to experiment further with new grapes and terroirs, and even implemented more sustainability measures.
Henriet-Bazin’s Grand Cru rosé is equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Grand Cru villages of Verzy and Verzenay. They only own
nine tiny plots in Verzenay (totaling less than two hectares of Pinot Noir and a half hectare of Chardonnay) and use a smattering of Chardonnay from
two plots in Verzy (totaling less than one hectare). Marie-Noelle practices sustainable farming and plows the rows between her old vines that were first planted in 1963. After hand harvesting grapes, they are sent into stainless steel tanks where both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation takes place. Roughly 70% of this bottle came from the 2013 harvest with reserve wines (again, from a perpetual wine blend first started in 1968) making up the final 30%. The rosé is bottled and then aged in their cellar for a minimum of three years before disgorgement, which is accompanied by a
dosage of seven grams per liter and the addition of 19% still Pinot Noir vinified entirely in-house.
Henriet-Bazin’s Grand Cru Rosé pushes well beyond pink and salmon, shining a brilliantly deep vermilion hue with silver accents. This breathtaking color (thanks to the healthy addition of old-vine, still Pinot Noir via the dosage) perfectly encapsulates this opulent Champagne. If you allow the wine to sit long enough (I’d be surprised if you do), you’ll find that its super-fine bubbles march to a steady beat for a dizzying amount of time. The nose is jaw-droppingly appetizing with juicy Moro blood orange, fresh raspberries, crushed red and white cherries, red currants, strawberry coulis, wet stones, loads of crushed chalk, damp herbs, tangerine zest, lemon blossoms, and hints of smoke. The palate presents itself boldy, with plush fruits and energetic waves of freshness from beginning to end—and the end is a lengthy one. Expect to savor the wine’s minerality and opulent fruit for minutes. This has the structure and energy to easily last another 5+ years if you allow it to rest in a cool place, but you should certainly drink a few now—it’s already in perfect form. It can be consumed with various finger foods or poured next to a sit-down meal of the attached blood orange and lemongrass chicken dish. This rosé is incredibly versatile, so the choice is yours!
