A Rosé House That Is Actually a Chardonnay House
When I first heard about Fleur de Miraval, I briefly thought it was just another celebrity champagne brand. Brad Pitt, the Perrin family, a bit of Hollywood glamour on top. But the more I looked into the project, the clearer it became to me that something genuinely interesting is happening behind the glossy facade. Now ER5 has arrived, the fifth edition, launching around ten years after the project began. For me, that's a good reason to take a closer look.
What ER5 Actually Is
ER stands for "Exclusivement Rosé," and that's also the defining feature of Fleur de Miraval. As far as I know, it's the only champagne house that produces exclusively Rosé. No side trips into Blanc de Blancs, no classic Brut on the side. Only Rosé, in different editions, each with its own character.
Technically speaking, ER5 is composed of 75 percent Chardonnay and 25 percent Pinot Noir. That surprised me when I first read it, since you automatically think of a lot of red grape when it comes to Rosé. Here it's the other way around. The color and part of the structure come from a small but important Pinot Noir component, while the Chardonnay essentially forms the backbone of the cuvée.
The Three-Part Construction
What fascinates me most about ER5 is how the Assemblage is built. According to the house, it consists of three components.
Réserve Perpétuelle as the Foundation
Half of the cuvée comes from a Réserve Perpétuelle, an ongoing reserve wine system made from Grand-Cru Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs, mainly from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, supplemented by Oger, Avize, and Cramant. The vintages range from 2007 to 2019, aged in large oak casks, concrete, and stainless steel. For me, this is the part that brings depth and complexity, a kind of liquid memory spanning more than ten years.
Remise en Cercle: Old Bottles, Reimagined
The second component really surprised me. A quarter of the cuvée comes from already fully matured Blanc de Blancs bottles from the 2010 and 1998 vintages, which are opened after many years on the lees and then blended back into the Assemblage. In the previous edition, ER4, these were 2007 and 2012. This technique, often referred to as "Remise en Cercle," is something I've mostly encountered in stories about experimental projects by individual growers. I find it remarkable that a comparatively young house applies it with such consistency. It essentially brings back mature bottle character into a new cuvée, without the bottles themselves ever having been sold.
Pinot Noir as a Gentle Infusion
The final component is young Pinot Noir from the 2020 vintage, from the Premier Cru Vertus, vinified in stainless steel as a kind of infusion. So not a classic red wine addition like in many other Rosé Assemblages, but a brief, gentle maceration. To me, this also explains why the Chardonnay share can remain so dominant without the color or fruity note falling short.
Ten Years, 15 Vintages in One Bottle
In total, ER5 contains 15 vintages, one more than ER4. The reserve wine share is 75 percent, the base year is 2020. The cuvée spent around four years on the lees, was disgorged in April 2025, and the Dosage is below 6 grams per liter, making it an Extra Brut. To me, that sounds like a champagne built more for tension and minerality than for sweet playfulness.
My Take as an Enthusiast
What impresses me most about ER5 isn't the celebrity factor, but the craftsmanship behind it. A Rosé made of three quarters Chardonnay and three quarters reserve wines is, statistically speaking, pretty unusual. Most Rosé Champagnes I've tried so far live off the fruit and the red hue of Pinot Noir. Here, the focus seems to be more on texture, acidity, and a long arc across time.
I haven't had ER5 in the glass yet, but the description alone makes me curious how the old, reopened Blanc de Blancs bottles hold their own against the young Pinot Noir infusion. For me as an enthusiast, this is exactly the kind of project where I'd love to open a bottle as soon as it's released, just to understand what ten years of project work actually tastes like.