Langham Wine Estate Rosé NV

Made in a mature, complex style – less floral, more structured. Aromas of raspberry and brown butter lead to a palate of mandarin, greek yoghurt and baked stone fruit.

The cuvée is a blend of 69% Chardonnay, 16% Pinot Meunier and 15% Pinot Noir. The grapes for the base vintage were picked in October 2020. This rosé is produced by ‘assemblage’ of white base wines with the addition of red wine, here made from Pinot Noir Precoce (Early Pinot Noir). For the white base wines, the fruit is pressed oxidatively in a three tonne pneumatic press then the juice left to settle overnight – the first of many characteristic steps in our low-intervention method, before the juice is racked into a combination of stainless steel and old, predominately French oak (minimum three years old, ex Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux). For the red wine, the fruit is crushed then fermented on its skins for three weeks before pressing and racking into stainless steel and oak. Alcoholic fermentation occurs spontaneously, followed by full malolactic fermentation and prolonged ageing with regular batonage. The wines are blended and bottled without fining or filtration. Less sugar is added at tirage, leading to a lower bottle pressure of around 4.5 bar.

Langham Wine Estate specialises in making low-intervention, traditional method sparkling wines from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes grown on 30 hectares north-east of Dorchester in rural Dorset. The vineyard is planted on a south-southwest slope at 80-110m above sea level on flinty clay topsoil over deep, porous Cretaceous chalk, with the first block planted in 2009. Viticulture is science-based and data-led, seeking to minimise chemical input wherever possible.