2007 Celebris Rosé Extra Brut

The brilliant 2007 Celebris Rosé Extra Brut might be better described as "œil de perdrix," so subtle is its hue; cellar master Odilon de Varine commented that the idea behind the wine was not so much to produce a rosé as to produce a Celebris with more depth and richness. The wine wafts from the glass with a lovely bouquet of yellow orchard fruit, beeswax, pain d'epices and clear honey, followed by a full-bodied, broad and crisply fleshy palate with a deep and tight-knit core, a bright spine of acidity and a long, mineral finish. To my palate, this is the finest of Gosset's current releases, and it's well worth a special effort to seek out.

93/100

Chef de Cave Odilon de Varine is entirely pragmatic when it come to declaring a Celebris – happy to declare two years in a row (2007 and 2008), despite the fact that 2007 was not universally lauded in Champagne. There is a difference in blend between the two (this is two-thirds Chardonnay whereas the 2008 is nearly three-quarters Chardonnay), and even in dosage (the 2007 is an Extra Brut, dosed at 3g/L, whereas the 2008 is a Brut with 6.5 g/L). Celebris, in other words, is made to measure and made precisely as the vintage dictates. The wine is coppery in colour with Christmas cake spice and an initial attack which recalls Braeburn apples and soap pumice; then, with aeration, legions of honey, spring flowers and brioche join the party. A very accomplished and pleasingly idiosyncratic piece of work.