Fleur de Miraval : ER3

This graceful rosé Champagne layers a rich base of roasted almond, toast and smoke accents with nectarine and pureed raspberry fruit, oyster shell, blood orange zest and chalk notes. Fresh and fluid on the palate, with a creamy mousse consisting of fine, pinprick-sized bubbles. Long, rich finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Drink now through 2030. 750 cases made.

Pale salmon pink in the glass, with very pretty floral aromas and delicate hints of autolysis. This progresses to delicate fruits and a zesty, crisp, crunchy pomelo, lime and grapefruit pith freshness, with clean, linear length. Initially this fresh, youthful character dominates but, as with earlier editions, the wine benefits from time in the glass (or decanting) as it opens up to reveal creamier, more mature fruit flavours of red berries, red apples and complex notes of spice, herbs, aniseed and a touch of orange. More vibrant and freshly youthful than ER1 and ER2, with layers of complexity beneath the surface.

75% Chardonnay (some of it coming from Rodolphe Péters' perpetual reserve), 25% Pinot Noir. ER3 is based on the 2018 vintage. Disgorged in May 2022 (three years sur lattes). Dosage 4.5 g/l. Made as a joint project with the Perrin family and Rodolphe Péters. The Trivet team paired Miraval's champagne with gougères filled with lemon-zested goat's curd, and it really was spot on. It's a rather rich, showy, weighty wine. Opulent and intensely ripe fruit, more sweetness than you'd expect, considering the low dosage. But it doesn't justify the price tag (which ranges from £180 to £350 a bottle). (TC)

Light to medium pink colour with a copper hue and small vivid bubbles. Pure nose offering chalky notes, lemongrass, roasted hazelnut, fresh raspberry, ginger and buttery pastry notes. The palate shows good volume and roundness with a finely integrated mousse, layers of red-fruited raspberry notes paired with chardonnay-driven chalk, citrus and nuttiness, good flavour intensity with mouth-watering freshness from a low dosage level, good substance and layers with a very fine persistence and finish.