From: Champagne, France
Varietal: Pinot Noir

Taste: A rosé of elegance that only Pinot Noir can deliver. It is a truly unique item that is a tradition in the region. The purity of this wine shows the style of the estate in a stately manner in its still form. Alone, this still rosé champagne shows rustic notes of rose petals, baking spice, a hint of hazelnut, and dried red fruits. We recommend trying this wine with and without food to try the difference because this wine comes to life when paired with a meal or just charcuterie and fromage. With food, the fruit quality goes from dried red to fresh raspberries, strawberries, red Rainier cherries, and wild sour cherries in fields here.

Pairing: Pair this wine with simple dishes that come from high-quality ingredients and you’ll have a beautiful experience. Roasted chicken with shallots and sautéed mushrooms, pâté, chicken liver mousse or Rillettes, charcuterie and fromage boards, duck confit (check out the five-star recipe for duck confit risotto below), and mushroom risotto or polenta are some of our favorite pairings. Get your poultry, pâté, sausages, duck, etc., from local butchers and fine food purveyors, and it’ll be a night to remember.

Risotto With Duck Confit
By Jonathan Reynolds

About. Champagne producer Guy de Forez is housed in a beautiful building built in the 17th century in the town of Les Riceys.  Francis Wenner and his wife Sylvie farm 12 acres of mostly Pinot Noir with small amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.  The house was one of the early pioneers of farming sustainably in the region, and are currently participating members of the Terra Vitis federation.  The town of Les Riceys is also traditionally known for making beautiful still rose wine that ages beautifully.  The range of Champagnes is full-bodied with purity and precise freshness that makes these wines ideal dinner companions.

From A Summertime Wine Like No Other, Pfanner says, "The wines had long ago lost any sharp edges. They were lightly oxidized, giving them a bit of the character of tawny Port, yet they had retained much of their youthful fruit. The range of flavors was broad, from wild strawberries to almonds to liquorice. The aromas were those of pleasant decay, like the smell of plane trees in Paris after a spring rain."

“It’s an intimate wine, one that you drink with a small circle of enthusiasts,” said Francis Wenner of Guy de Forez. “It’s not a thirst-quencher.”