It starts with silence. No bubbles, no noise. Just that eerie stillness — the kind you feel underwater, where your heartbeat is louder than the world. You’re not drinking yet. You’re listening. To pressure. To salt. To something ancient brushing against your spine.
This bottle spent a year resting 60 meters below the sea, tucked into the Bay of Stiff near Ushant Island. Not just chilled — changed. Pressure, motionlessness, and darkness conspire to sculpt what’s inside. It’s not marketing. It’s alchemy. The rosé you hold is not the rosé that went in.
You pour, and it glows faintly coral — like rose petals caught in tidewater. The nose is delicate but hallucinatory: wild strawberries dipped in saltwater taffy, crushed oyster shell, dried hibiscus, rhubarb, and that telltale Leclerc Briant chalk. And then it hits the tongue.
The mousse? Invasive. Like tiny electric pulses flooding every nerve ending. It moves fast. Waves of redcurrant, tart cherry, and blood orange burst, twist, collapse into mineral bitterness and crushed white pepper. Then something creamy, almost oily — roasted almond, salted shortbread, a whisper of coral reef. There is no dosage, but the wine blooms as if there were. And then it tightens.
You close your eyes. You’re adrift. Maybe floating. Maybe sinking. Each sip expands and contracts — sensory pleasure and restriction, flooding and silence.
It goes down like a secret you were never meant to know — and stays with you long after.
Serve with very little. Maybe grilled prawns. Maybe nothing. Maybe just another mouth. Eat with your hands. Speak in whispers. Turn off the lights.
Region: Épernay & submerged aging site off the coast of Brittany, Champagne, France Grapes: 33% Pinot Noir, 33% Pinot Meunier, 33% Chardonnay Underwater Aging: 12 months at 60m depth in the Bay of Stiff, Ushant Island Base Vintage: 2018
