NV Veuve A. Devaux Cuvee Rosee Champagne 750 ml

The last time we offered Champagne Veuve A. Devaux, we sold nearly 1,500 bottles in just a few days and saw it notch some of the highest ratings of any Champagne we sell. Maybe because Devaux has earned comparisons to Krug, Dom Pérignon, and Piper-Heidsieck Rare. Or because of the mind-blowing value these wines represent, delivering blue-chip quality for very little green. 

You’d pay upwards of $200 for a bottle of this at such Michelin-starred mainstays as London’s La Trompette or Salon Copenhagen, yet the Wine Access price on this sommelier favorite comes in at a whole lot less. 

We’re thrilled to share a limited allocation of Devaux’s Cuvée Rosée, the most elegant rosé we’ve found from the area Wine Folly called “the hottest Champagne region right now.” 

As Champagne’s southernmost appellation, the Côte des Bar sits closer to Chablis than to Reims. It shares the same Kimmeridgian limestone and clay soils as Chablis, too, lending this wine an extraordinary mineral quality while simultaneously delivering every bit of the supple red-fruit profile we could want in a Pinot-driven sparkler.

This is a wine that defines the quality standards in a region known almost exclusively for its stellar quality. Devaux works only with growers who sign on to their region-leading “D selection” vineyard management techniques, which go well beyond Champagne’s stringent official standards. 

We feel that quality from the first salmon-tinted pour to the bright, textured mouthfeel that keeps giving long after we’ve emptied the last glass. And we really love the way the Devaux Cuvée Rosée shows its Burgundian influence, with 10% still red wine blended in and three years of aging on the lees in neutral barrels. What comes out—soft strawberry and plump raspberry notes balanced by rose petal and chalk—bears the mark of the land, guided to life by winemaker Michel Parisot’s understated but refined approach. 

Critic Eric Asimov, in the New York Times, captured the essence of the Côte des Bar’s slightly rugged appeal, especially for wine lovers who favor a concrete sense of place in their Champagnes. “Rather than the hushed pop of the cork and the silken rush of bubbles,” he wrote, “these Champagnes suggest soil on the boots and dirt under the fingernails.” 

It’s this balance between refined and rugged that marks Devaux as a leading light for the era. And it’s our longstanding connection to the Côte des Bar that enables us to bring home one of the region’s great expressions for such an unpretentious price. The Devaux house may date back to 1846, but their wines feel more relevant today than ever. 

As Decanter put it, in a recent article: “Take a bow, Devaux!”