Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé 75cl

You will recognise this bottle across a room. The flattened, wide-shouldered shape is copied from a seventeenth-century carafe, and inside it sits one of the two or three rosé Champagnes everyone in the trade can name without thinking.

Laurent-Perrier make it by maceration rather than blending, which in 1968 was an awkward and expensive decision, and is now the entire reason the wine tastes the way it does. Almost all Pinot Noir, left on its skins just long enough. Wild strawberry and raspberry, red cherry sitting behind them, and a line of acidity that stops any of it turning jammy.

Presence without weight. Serious winemaking that does not ask you to be serious back.

How to Serve

8 to 10°C. A white wine glass rather than a flute — the aromatics are the whole point here. Drink it young and fresh.

Where to Drink It

Scott's in Mayfair, alongside the crab. The River Cafe on a summer evening by the water. Brat in Shoreditch, where the grill smoke and the red fruit get on rather well.

Food Pairings

Grilled prawns with garlic. Or duck, if you want to see what that Pinot Noir can actually carry.