Champagne Henriot Vintage Rose 2012 is made from a blend of 45% Chardonnay and 55% Pinot Noir, sourced from Premier and Grand Cru vineyards. The wine was aged for five years on its lees before release and now displays a combination of elegant, succulent fruit along with depth and texture on the palate. The red fruit dominates the wine with toasted more developed notes now present. The wine is a unique colour and was never a concern for wine maker Laurent Fresnet who was more interested in the wines organoleptic structure rather than hitting the right shade of pink to match someone’s lipstick or silk scarf.
Champagne Henriot, founded in 1808, is one of the rare Champagne houses that has remained under the same family ownership for over two hundred years. The wines improved massively under the watchful eye of cellar master Laurent Fresnet who won the International Wine Challenge “Sparkling Winemaker of the Year” award for two successive years, in 2015 and again in 2016. Laurent moved on at the beginning of 2020 and was succeeded by the talented Alice Tetienne who had previously worked with Krug.
Alice selects two thirds of its grapes from Champagne’s 17 Grands Cru and 42 Premier Cru vineyards, a roll call of famous villages – Verzy, Verzenay, Avenay, Mareuil and Mailly for Pinot Noir, as well as Trepail, Chouilly, Cramant, Avize, Oger, Mesnil and Vertus for Chardonnay. Grapes from all vineyards, crus and parcels are fermented separately to capture the specific characteristics of the villages and to allow Chef de Cave, Alice to faithfully reproduce Henriot’s house style every year. The non-vintage Brut usually contains up to 30 different crus in a cleverly orchestrated balance with an average of 30% reserve wines.
