Rose Demi Sec - Blanc

When Rémi Leroy returned to his family's Côte des Bar estate in 2006 after completing a Masters in Oenology at Bordeaux, he made a deliberate choice to vinify each parcel separately — a Burgundian discipline almost without precedent among Aube growers. The domaine's 9.5 hectares span three villages (Meurville, Bergères, Fontaine), with Meurville split across east- and southwest-facing hillsides flanking the Le Landion tributary. Soils are predominantly Kimmeridgian clay-limestone — geologically identical to Chablis — delivering a saline, chiselled mineral tension that reads closer to the Yonne than to the Marne Valley mainstream.

This Rosé Demi Sec is assembled from 75% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Meunier, with 30% reserve wine drawn from a perpetual solera started in 2009. Fermentation proceeds with indigenous yeasts in a combination of stainless steel and used Burgundian barrels sourced from Hubert Lamy (St-Aubin) and Thomas Pico (Chablis); must is moved entirely by gravity to minimise SO₂ intervention. Full malolactic fermentation and 18–20 months on lees precede disgorgement, followed by additional cellar rest before release. The wine is unfined and unfiltered.

What sets this expression apart within its category is the demi sec format applied to a terroir-driven, low-intervention grower philosophy — a deliberate transgression of the assumption that residual sugar belongs to industrial Champagne rather than to mineral, site-specific cuvées.