Mastering rosé Champagne is a huge task - you need just the right amount of pink fruit to make it generous without losing that classic balance. This Paul Bara rosé uses quite a bit of Pinot Noir still wine to give colour and body, making for a Champagne that instantly feels like a step up. There's strawberry and cranberry, but it's still a crisp, citrussy and fresh thing underneath, making for a real masterpiece.

The Paul Bara name is a bit of a legend in Champagne. Situated in the town of Bouzy, not far from the working heart of Champagne, the Bara family owns 30 vineyards that are exclusively rated as 'Grand Cru', which is the highest rating that Champagne vineyards get, and are associated with the best sites for getting grapes ripe every year. From these famed plots, Paul makes a small range of wines that defy so many of the norms - the yields are low, and the wines spend over four years ageing before release (over double the usual amount). The discussion about vineyards is particularly important, as many of the largest Champagne brands own only a portion of their own vines, while Paul Bara is very much a grower and winemaker, even as the trend goes away from 'growers'. There's an extra layer of purity and detail to these wines that sets them apart as something more than just another bottle of Champagne too, and it's hard not to trace that right back to the superstar Paul Bara vineyards.