Waris-Larmandier "L'instant de Passions" NV Extra Brut Rosé Champagne

750ml bottle

12% abv

Mellow, earthy mushroom nuances, stony chalk, strawberries, pink grapefruit, saline notes, and baking spices. Savory, smooth, and creamy texture with a long, elegant, supple finish.

L’Instant de Passions Rosé is sourced from the estate’s biodynamically-farmed, old-vine chardonnay plots in the Grand Cru villages of Chouilly, Cramant, Avize, Oger, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Côte des Blancs, and pinot noir from the Côte des Bar. L’Instant de Passions Rosé is a very limited, complex, age-worthy œil de perdrix rosé with mellow, earthy mushroom nuances, stony chalk, melting into strawberries, pink grapefruit, saline notes, and baking spices. The harmonious palate has a savory, smooth and creamy texture and a long, elegant and supple finish. A rosé that can be enjoyed before a meal but also has the tension to pair beautifully with food.

Vinification – Grapes are picked separately, hand-harvested and crushed in a traditional 4000 kg vertical wooden basket press; only free-run juice is used for the primary fermentation. Chardonnay and pinot noir are barrel-fermented separately with native yeasts in 600L demi-muid Burgundy barrels and Avize Champagne barrels. Malolactic fermentation is spontaneous following alcoholic fermentation. The base wines are aged 6 to 18 months before blending 20% still pinot noir and secondary fermentation in bottle, followed by 24 to 36 months of lees aging, sur lattes. Disgorgements are done according to the lunar cycle—dosage 4g/L.

The dynamic, young Waris-Larmandier family farms prime, old-vine vineyards of Grand Cru chardonnay in the Côte des Blancs, located in the villages of Chouilly, Cramant, Avize, Oger, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Jean-Philippe Waris is supported by his brother Pierre-Louis, an architect, and his sister Inès, a designer and sculptor. Together with their mother, Marie-Hélène Larmandier, they form the “racines de trois” (the three roots) of Waris-Larmandier; each making their own contribution to the artistic vision of this young and dynamic Champagne house. Exceptional farming is the primary focus at Waris-Larmandier. Their vineyards are certified both organic (Ecocert) and biodynamic (Demeter), with their primary goal of producing transparent, terroir-focused wines. 

Waris-Larmandier Champagnes are made in a long-aging style characterized by elegance and a superb balance of minerality and silkiness, with secondary fermentation producing pressure at 4.5 bar. This lower pressure, traditional to Avize, gives the wine a very fine and creamy mousse and delicate texture that is neither aggressive, nor overwhelming, yielding gastronomic Champagnes with great complexity and verve.