Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé 150cl

Most rosé Champagne gets its colour from a splash of red wine blended in at the end. Laurent-Perrier does it the harder way. The juice sits on Pinot Noir skins until the colour and the flavour are where they want them, then it is pressed — maceration, the method the house committed to back in 1968 when almost nobody else could be bothered. It is the reason this tastes of fruit rather than of tint.

Near enough all Pinot Noir. Wild strawberry and raspberry up front, red cherry underneath, and an acidity that keeps the whole thing upright instead of sugary. The magnum matters here: twice the wine to the same amount of oxygen means it ages more slowly, so you get the same clarity with a rounder edge and a finer, more persistent bead.

At £162 this is not a casual purchase, and it does not behave like one. It arrives, people notice, and the afternoon changes shape.

How to Serve

8 to 10°C — cold, but not numbed. Put away the flute and use a white wine glass, because the fruit needs somewhere to go. No decanting.

Where to Drink It

Scott's in Mayfair, where a good rosé and a shellfish counter have always understood each other. The Wolseley, for a lunch with no fixed end. Noble Rot, if you would rather the wine did most of the talking.

Food Pairings

Whole grilled sea bass. Or a plate of jamón and decent bread while everyone is still arriving.