With the arrival of spring and the start the alfresco entertaining season, we are especially happy to have made an acquisition of Petite Fleur, the terrific, new star-powered rosé Champagne from Fleur de Miraval. Fleur de Miraval, as many of you know, is a project launched in 2020 by film legend Brad Pitt with two "star" winemakers, Rodolphe Péters of Champagne's Pierre Péters and Marc Perrin of the Rhône's Famille Perrin estates. Fleur de Miraval's original limited bottling, the Brut Rosé Champagne Exclusivement, has received rave reviews by many wine critics (97 Points by James Suckling, 95 Points by the Wine Spectator, etc.) and sells for close to three hundred dollars - when you can find it. Petite Fleur is a new companion label to the Exclusivement that is available for just a third of the cost. This "little sister" is still a Champagne of impeccable pedigree as it encompasses Chardonnay grapes sourced exclusively from magnificent terroirs of the Côte des Blancs with a 5% dollop of Pinot Noir, vinified as still wine, to create the pale pink hue. The Exclusivement Rosé leans heavily on reserve wines that impart complexity and depth to the finished sparkler, using only 25% of wines from a recent harvest. By comparison, the Petite Fleur blends 65% from the recent 2019 harvest for this first release. We were smitten at once with this swanky, compelling rosé, feeling that it displayed Billecart-like finesse with just a tad more gravitas and chalk purity.
The Pitt and Perrin alliance goes back to 2012, when they first brought the hugely successful Château Miraval Côtes de Provence Rosé to thirsty rosé wine drinkers around the world and helped to launch "rosé all day" as a lifestyle. But looking beyond Provence, they noticed that there wasn't as much of a focus on high quality rosé Champagne. "We're wine lovers on top of being winemakers," Perrin told Wine Spectator in 2021. "We loved great white Champagne, but we often felt the rosé counterparts were not at the same level."
JAMES SUCKLING 94 POINTS - "This is a new classic rosé from Fleur de Miraval with rose petals, iron shavings and some orange peel. Medium-bodied with zesty orange peel, rose petal, chalk and hibiscus on the palate. Dried strawberry and iron. Lovely balance of acidity. Juicy. Lightly dry finish. Based on the proprietary reserve. White from 2019 and red 2019 blends. All Cote de Blancs and Pinot Noir from Vertus. October release. Drink or hold.
WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "An elegant Champagne, offering a fine, lacy mousse and a lively but still delicate frame of acidity for notes of apricot and wild cherry fruit, grated ginger and pink grapefruit zest. Simultaneously, this has an underpinning of toasted nuts, smoke and chalk adding richness and depth. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Drink now through 2026. 3,500 cases imported."
‘Petite Fleur’ opens on a magnificent bouquet of spring flowers, with notes of peony and hawthorn, interwoven with bright, luscious red fruit such as raspberry and redcurrant. The mouth is exquisitely juicy and full, illuminated with fresh, lemony citrus notes, ruby grapefruit and mandarin, and a subtly diaphanous finish. ‘Petite Fleur’ is the very essence of its place of origin: the magnificent terroirs of the Côte des Blancs, anchored in the noble purity of chalk.
The Pitt and Perrin alliance goes back to 2012, when they first brought the hugely successful Château Miraval Côtes de Provence Rosé to thirsty rosé wine drinkers around the world and helped to launch "rosé all day" as a lifestyle. But looking beyond Provence, they noticed that there wasn't as much of a focus on high quality rosé Champagne. "We're wine lovers on top of being winemakers," Perrin told Wine Spectator in 2021. "We loved great white Champagne, but we often felt the rosé counterparts were not at the same level."
JAMES SUCKLING 94 POINTS - "This is a new classic rosé from Fleur de Miraval with rose petals, iron shavings and some orange peel. Medium-bodied with zesty orange peel, rose petal, chalk and hibiscus on the palate. Dried strawberry and iron. Lovely balance of acidity. Juicy. Lightly dry finish. Based on the proprietary reserve. White from 2019 and red 2019 blends. All Cote de Blancs and Pinot Noir from Vertus. October release. Drink or hold.
WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "An elegant Champagne, offering a fine, lacy mousse and a lively but still delicate frame of acidity for notes of apricot and wild cherry fruit, grated ginger and pink grapefruit zest. Simultaneously, this has an underpinning of toasted nuts, smoke and chalk adding richness and depth. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Drink now through 2026. 3,500 cases imported."
‘Petite Fleur’ opens on a magnificent bouquet of spring flowers, with notes of peony and hawthorn, interwoven with bright, luscious red fruit such as raspberry and redcurrant. The mouth is exquisitely juicy and full, illuminated with fresh, lemony citrus notes, ruby grapefruit and mandarin, and a subtly diaphanous finish. ‘Petite Fleur’ is the very essence of its place of origin: the magnificent terroirs of the Côte des Blancs, anchored in the noble purity of chalk.
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