Eric Rodez Maceration Rose Grand Cru ChampagneEric Rodezs ros is one of those bottles that reads immediately as fun, then keeps unfolding into something much more complete. Bright fruit up front, real Pinot Noir structure underneath, and a lengthy finish that makes you take notice. Ambonnay, at the southern edge of the Montagne de Reims, is Grand Cru Pinot Noir country: perfumed, shapely and deep. Rodez brings both precision and ease to the village, farming biodynamically and working parcel by

The room is filled with the heady aroma of dark fruits and cherries

which draws in its salty minerality

buried septic tanks

“What is a ‘hidden gem’ winery in Napa Valley

this fruit is now sold off to negociants

The Coteaux du Loir isn’t the Loire Valley

My wine won

Its palate is rich

more contemplative

It always amazes me when I come across something from Corsica (albeit

this means the wine has got great Pinot spice / strawberry fruit character but also has had a chance to fully develop all of Pinot’s glorious complexity

and the people who tend them