Champagne Rosé Brut 'Tolerance' Franck Pascal

Franck Pascal's "Tolerance" Champagne is an appealing and balanced rosé that opens a door directly onto a path of endless enjoyability and pleasantness. The name on the label may seem curious, but it becomes absolutely coherent after understanding Franck's ideas. Who has switched to biodynamics since 2004 and sees his vines as part of a larger organism that includes soil and environment in an ongoing interaction that must be safeguarded. And so, too, "Tolerance" is a quality that allows one to juggle patience in the vineyard and cellar, to understand, after careful observation, the mechanisms that govern plants and the ecosystem.

Champagne Rosé Brut "Tolerance" is a blend of 3 types of grape varieties: Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir and, for a small percentage, Chardonnay. The first two are the principles of the Vallée de la Marne, where Pascal's vineyards are located, spread over 5 communes and based in Baslieux sous Chatillon. The grapes are grown using experimental methods whose cardinal principle is to go beyond the elimination of chemicals: finding the most suitable solutions using what nature provides is the goal. The clay soils preserve vines that are between 15 and 40 years old, only indigenous yeasts are used, and neither filtration nor racking is implemented. The stay on the lees is 40 months.

In Franck Pascal's Champagne Rosé, there is a glimpse every year of the possibility of improvement because there is an impressive positive escalation over time. This translates, in the glass, into a tension in the mouth that leads one to want to discover it better. Already the colour is intriguing, with its coppery pink crossed by a fine and elegant perlage. On the nose come notes of red citrus fruit that fade into puffs of spice on an intense mineral carpet. Tasting it, although the first impression is related to genuine austerity, one is overwhelmed by its liquid embrace, which becomes elegant and vital. It really has to be said that, to appreciate this Champagne Rosé, it is not then necessary to be very tolerant!