Brett happens

Impressed by the 2002 Équilibre opened to ring in the new year, I picked up a bottle of the same producer’s rosé to share with another champagne aficionado on an evening that began with dinner at KanBai and ended with a screening of the new DVD of Lully’s Atys. The restaurant impressed; the opera blew us away (lovers of the French baroque shouldn’t hesitate); the champagne…

Champagne Brut Rosé, Tolérance, Franck Pascal ($61.50, 11552839)
Medium salmon pink. Only a single stream of bubbles, albeit an active one, in each glass. Briochy and a bit farty on opening, segues to faint red berries and turned earth. Round texture. Soft nectarine with a butterscotchy bitter note emerging on the mid-palate. The fruit fades leaving a long, minerally finish. Improves – becomes more complex and better integrated, gains strawberry and anise flavours – as it warms and breathes. Clean, pure and enjoyable, though a little more depth and dazzle would be welcome.

Based on what I’ve been able to glean from the Web, this is essentially a blanc de noirs made from a 60-40 blend of organically farmed Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir with a dollop of Chardonnay, to which a little more than 5% of still red Coteaux Champenois is added. Fermented with native yeasts, bottled unfiltered and unfined.