2012 Champagne Laurent-Perrier, Alexandra, Grande Cuvée Rosé, Brut

The 2012 Rosé Cuvée Alexandra is the hidden gem in the Laurent Perrier range. I seldom see it talked about, which is a shame. Then again, Laurent Perrier only bottles this Champagne in very rare vintages that allow for a maceration of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Rose petal, mint, kirsch, cinnamon and dried flowers caress the palate. Cuvée Alexandra is such a special Champagne, one I would very much like to see more often!

The Alexandra Rosé from Laurent-Perrier is worth seeking out, with its ripe aromas of pomegranate and berries touched with notes of violets and brioche. The wine is elegant, but there is enough power here to stand up even to red meat at dinner – this is a wine of complexity, substance and length that is mature now but will continue to improve in the cellar. The grapes are exclusively grand cru; the fermentation is done using the saignée method, and the finished wine is 10 years on the lees before disgorging.

From a year of small volume and big concentration, the color is deep but rather youthful for the time being. In 2012, the color and flavors extracted quickly, and 48 hours’ maceration was enough. A super stylish and expressive nose with licorice and juniper wood giving spicy tones to the sweetly fruity, bitter cherry and strawberry candy nose. On the palate there is an explosion of flavors with wild, even animally tones supporting the intense fruitiness. It is still holding back so much with its tight, fine tannin structure, energizing tension and sleek acid line. This is a keeper with ages ahead of it.

Fascinating. Bronze with a green hue on the edges, showing dried oranges, blond tobacco, menthol, patisserie, dried strawberries and pie crust. Smoky and complex yet subtle. Medium-bodied with fine bubbles and lots of flavor but tight and focused, giving it positive energy, tension and great length. Lightly bitter grapefruit at the end. Some candied fruit. Co-fermented 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay. Aged about 10 years on the lees. Dosage 7 g/L. Drink or hold.

A very unusual wine, a maceration rosé champagne from a big house. It was first made by Bernard de Nonancourt of Laurent-Perrier from the 1982 vintage when Pinot Noir and Chardonnay both ripened well and concurrently. He prepared it for his daughter Alexandra's wedding in 1987 'to encourage her to join the company' according to her daughter Lucie Pereyre. It's made only when those two grapes ripen at the same time (necessary for a really successful maceration rosé) so only in 1982, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2004 and now 2012, which will be released formally in the UK in 2024). 2012 was the principal vintage of the 26th iteration of the house's prestige wine Grand Siècle. 2012 was a very difficult growing season before a usefully sunny summer. 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay and all from grand cru villages but for some reason they don't put Grand Cru on the label. According to Pereyre, 'the colour is not important. We are more concerned with the aroma during maceration which lasts 48 to 72 hours.' Disgorged in spring 2023 after 10 years on lees in Laurent-Perrier's damp, dark 12 °C cellars. Dosage 7 g/l.

Pale tomato red. Alexandra, after whom the wine is named, describes it as the colour of sky on a winter morning. Interesting, distinctive nose that's a bit like a vermouth – some herbs and slight bitterness. More interesting than the average pink champagne. Quite a bite on the end. Some cheese notes too. Liquorice, toasted bread and black fruits – bitter cherries? This is definitely a food wine. It might even go with some cheese and griotte cherries – perhaps that Basque combo? Serious wine. By no means a run-of-the-mill rosé.

A blend of 80% Pinot Noir from Ambonnay, Bouzy, Mailly-Champagne and Verzenay, combined with 20% Chardonnay from Avize, Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Laurent-Perrier’s 2012 Alexandra Rosé was disgorged in December 2023 with a dosage of seven grams per liter. Here, Pinot Noir juices—typically macerated for 48 to 72 hours—are co-fermented with Chardonnay musts, resulting in a wine of considerable complexity. Presenting a deep ruby hue, the wine unfurls from the glass with aromas of wild strawberry, pomegranate, blood orange and black velvet gooseberry. Medium- to full-bodied, satiny and beguiling, it reveals a flamboyant core of fruit, underpinned by succulent yet vibrant acidity and culminating in a perfumed, gently phenolic finish. Elegantly muscular and harmonious, it is a wine that compels one to refill the glass, confirming the adage that the best bottles are those that are swiftly emptied.

A blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay that are pressed together, Laurent-Perrier's new 2012 Brut Alexandra Grande Cuvée Rosé was disgorged in January 2022. Wafting from the glass with rich aromas of orange oil, macerated red berries, stone fruits and petals, it's medium to full-bodied, bright and pillowy, with a fleshy core of fruit and delicate phenolic structure that enlivens its sapid finish.

Drink now to 2032