From the Sorbée vineyard, Gautherot makes the Saignée de Sorbée, a pure pinot noir rosé made by carbonic maceration and whole cluster fermentation. ?For me,? he says, ?this is the top wine of the domaine, because you have a lot of fruit but also elegance and refinement.? He prefers the saignée method of making rosé because it only involves one process, which he feels is more natural than blending red wine together with white. ?When you blend,? he says, ?you always taste more of the red wine, and it can sometimes feel disjointed.? The Saignée de Sorbée was first produced in the 2003 vintage, and today Gautherot makes about 3,000 bottles of it each year?it?s always a deeply vinous champagne with a complex, intense soil signature, and its assertive character best complements a similarly assertive pairing, such as game birds, sausages or even organ meats.-champagneguide.net