The 2008 Brut Rosé La Grande Dame is also showing well, wafting from the glass with notes of red berries, warm spices, toasted brioche and citrus rind. Full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it's a vinous, muscular wine like its white sibling, with a lively spine of acidity and delicately phenolic back-end grip.

Disgorged May 2017 and launched at the same time as La Grande Dame Blanc. The same blend as the white plus 14% red wine from their own vineyard – Clos Colin, between Louvois and Bouzy. South facing. 29-year-old vines. A little bit of reduction. Deep orange Aperol colour. Tense and lively, with masses of fruit and openness. Dominique Demarville sees it as rather like a Chambolle. Good bite (‘positive bitterness’), after almost blowsy fruit. Dominique Demarville would like to launch the rosé a year after the white. Distinctive and confident – and much more approachable than the white. A bit like bitters, almost Campari. Morello cherries! More finesse than the white 2008 vintage. (JR)