This ‘Rosé de Saignée’ champagne is made using a precise, exacting method, whereby grapes are macerated for only 72 hours imparting the Champagne with distinctive character.
100% Pinot Noir from Riceys
Minimum 10 years
Since its foundation in the mid-eighteenth century, the 5tholdest Champagne House has upheld the same ethos of creating exceptional, bespoke, age-worthy champagnes. A true masterpiece, Sourire de Reims rosé is only made in limited quantity.
Sourire de Reims rosé is a true gem; its structure has been meticulously shaped with the same painstaking care and attention as the Smiling Angel of Reims, the famous stone sculpture. It is made exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes grown on the historic Riceys slopes by the same family of growers for more than three decades.
Looking back at the 2008 vintage
Late budburst: 26 April
Flowering: 16 June
Harvest: 15-25 September
For a vintage hailed as one of Champagnes greatest triumphs, it certainly wasn’t straightforward.
This was the coldest year since the beginning of the century, and not without challenging weather conditions. At the start of the year, just about every weather incident struck the vineyards, including heavy rain in January and February, a cool spell and snow in March and April, and also spring frosts. Thankfully, with an extremely mild May, the vines quickly made up any lost time.
It was a summer full of contrast, seeing stormy conditions in July and low sunshine hours in August.
The Riceys vineyards were fortunate to escape the precarious weather. For the growers, it was a fine, pleasant and even vintage. This included the harvest too, which took place in ideal conditions, with sunny, dry and windy days and cool nights, eradicating any threat of disease. The Pinot Noir was harvested perfectly ripe and in pristine condition. The grapes reveal a great concentration of anthocyanins. The quality of the grapes was exceptional, with perfectly balanced sugar and acid in the must.
An unusual shade of bright pink, tinged with striking ruby glints. Fine, delicate mousse, composed of tiny, slender, yet lingering bubbles.
With its stunning appearance and harmonious bouquet, Sourire de Reims Rosé is a tempting proposition as an aperitif, or for an intimate soiree, while its sensual bouquet makes it a great match to a wide choice of subtle and varied foods.
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Imagining a champagne is above all an art: that of collating the terroirs. Faithful to the vision of its founders, Abelé 1757 selects sites with the most promising aromatic potential.
To guarantee a constant supply of very high quality, Abelé 1757 has forged close links with a small circle of passionate vine-growers.
Lovers of their land, these craftsmen have long practised viticulture respectful of nature on plots sometimes as small as gardens.
Still in a state of shock after the Great War, the inhabitants of Reims sought to rebuild. Destroyed by the bombing, the city and its cathedral bear the scars of the conflict still. Henri Abelé is mobilising alongside major international patrons – including John D. Rockefeller and Edith Bangs – to finance the reconstruction of the ‘Coronation City’.
In the face of adversity, hope is reborn in the form of a statue with an enigmatic and cheeky smile adorning the building’s main entrance. Renamed “The Smiling Angel” by the population, the icon becomes the face of the rebirth.
In 1986, the Cellar Master unveiled an exquisitely shaped bottle. Its handling reveals a perfect balance that resonates like the golden ratio. Its design, elegant and refined, holds a mystery: the Sourire de Reims cuvée, a unique and singular expression of the finest terroirs of Champagne.
A founding preference for the House which conceived this cuvée in defiance of the passing of time. Created in limited quantities, it is part of the tradition of very great Champagne wines.
With exceptional precision, these natural archives of our harvests rest for more than ten years in the cellars. An exact and precious time so that each edition expresses all the spirit of an era and its personality.
With precious echoes of the passing of time, Abelé 1757 is one of the finest names in Champagne. Faithful to the philosophy of its founders, it takes the time and the material to perfect its craft.
A creator of great Champagne wines, the House uses its artisanal know-how as a bridge between present and future. Like a fine goldsmith, its work embodies to perfection the creations imbued with finesse and precision.
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