MonRose Grande Cuvée Extra Brut – 2011

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier from a great vintage

The MonRose Grande Cuvée Extra Brut 2011 is a vintage sparkling wine made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier, which the Raumland sparkling wine estate assembles only in exceptional years. It is not a cuvée from ongoing production, but a selection from the finest barrels of a single autumn harvest.

MonRose Grande Cuvée Extra Brut 2011 is the flagship sparkling wine from the Raumland estate in Flörsheim-Dalsheim, named after Heide-Rose, the founder's wife. Only 940 bottles of this vintage were placed in the estate's own wooden crate. It is a sparkling wine that brings the classic cuvée of three grape varieties right into the heart of Rheinhessen.

Brioche, cedar wood, and juicy orange

On the nose, the Raumland MonRose reveals fresh brioche, cedar wood, and aromas of juicy oranges, accompanied by a hint of white blossoms.

On the palate, it follows up with notes of apricot and red currant, powerful and long-lasting. 7.7 grams of acidity per liter keep it upright, while 3.5 grams of dosage deny it any sweetness to hide behind. It stands in the glass spicy, full-bodied, and chalky-mineral, with a mousse of great finesse.

The proportions reveal the intention behind this cuvée. 50 percent Chardonnay provides the framework and the citrus axis, 35 percent Pinot Noir ensures body, and 15 percent Meunier fills in the middle where there would otherwise be a gap. The chalky marl soils underneath impart a minerality that the sparkling wine carries with it until the very last sip.

For a meal that takes its time

A sparkling wine of this stature cannot handle a quick toast while standing; it demands a glass, a seat, and a meal to go with it.

Braised veal cheeks are a great match, as is poultry with roasted skin or a porcini mushroom risotto. Even a long-aged Parmigiano Reggiano can withstand its structure, because its salt brings the fruit to the fore.

It should be uncorked at 8 to 10 degrees and poured into a white wine glass, as the narrow flute keeps its mature aromas under wraps. Incidentally, the wooden crate makes it a gift that no one needs to wrap further.

Eleven years on the lees

The 2011 vintage budded early and heated up until June, before a mild, damp summer slowed down the ripening of the grapes.

The vintage was saved by an Indian summer with plenty of sun and little rain, which gave the grapes exactly the weeks they had been missing. Volker Raumland harvests by hand, presses whole clusters, and ferments the base wines spontaneously, 46 percent in stainless steel and 54 percent in barrique.

After the malolactic fermentation, the wine went into tirage bottling on June 12, 2012, marking the beginning of the second fermentation in the bottle. It was disgorged by hand on July 31, 2023, after 133 months of aging on the lees—far beyond what the designation Grande Cuvée requires.

Volker founded his sparkling wine estate in 1984, now farms 14 hectares organically, and in 2020 became the first winery dedicated exclusively to sparkling wine to join the VDP. That is a feat that takes some doing. The MonRose from the 2012 vintage shows how the same wine reads a year later, and further vintages are available in the assortment from Flörsheim-Dalsheim.