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Top 10 pink Champagnes

07 October 2022 By Patrick Schmitt

Here are the 10 best rosés from the 2022 Champagne Masters, featuring the ultimate expressions from the increasingly popular pink Champagne category, taking in fizzy drops from £45 to £300, all of which were Silver medallists or higher in the UK’s leading Champagne-only, professional blind-tasting competition.

POMMERY BRUT ROSÉ ROYAL

Producer: Pommery
Blend: Pinot Noir: 37%, Chardonnay: 32%, Pinot Meunier: 31%
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut
Approx UK Retail Price: £49.99
Medal: Gold

An excellent, relatively affordable pink Champagne with plenty of crowd-pleasing wild strawberry and ripe raspberry characters, mixed with notes of fresh apple, baked bread, and chalk.

JOSEPH PERRIER, CUVÉE ROYALE BRUT ROSÉ

Producer: Champagne Joseph Perrier
Grape varieties: 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 20% Meunier
Abv: 12%
Vintage: NV
Approx. retail price: £45
Medal: Gold

Aged on the lees for 3-to-5 years in cellars dug out of ancient Gallo-Roman chalk pits, this rosé Champagne is serious, and seriously delicious. Displaying a medium ‘vieux rose’ hue and narrow cordon, the wine exudes summer pudding fruits and fresh bread notes. On the palate, the wine shows finesse in its light body, zippy acidity and ‘crackling’ mousse texture. Nicely balanced with good length. Quite vinous, this wine is a lovely aperitif but will also work well with wild salmon or even light desserts. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)

PALMES D’OR ROSÉ INTENSE 2008

Producer: Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte
Blend: Pinot Noir: 100%
Vintage: 2008
Dosage: Brut
Approx UK Retail Price: £180
Medal: Silver

if you love light, fresh, delicate pink Champagnes, then Nicolas Feuillatte’s Palmes d’Or Rosé Intense is not for you. A pure Pinot rosé de saignée from 2008, it is a powerful and fully mature fizz that tastes a little like an old red Burgundy, with notes of stewed red berries, rhubarb and toast, along with a slightly woody character, but lifted by a steady-stream of creamy textured bubbles, and a tangy acidity that makes your mouth water – after all, 2008 was a cool, if great year in Champagne. In short, this aged, oxidative, full-flavoured fizz is distinctive, complex, and well-suited to sipping with food, such as cured meat, or perhaps duck with orange.

GOSSET GRAND ROSÉ

Producer: Gosset
Blend: Pinot Noir: 45%, Chardonnay: 55%
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut
Approx UK Retail Price: £65
Medal: Silver

While this ‘Grand Rosé’ from Gosset entices with aromas of cappuccino, toast, and ripe red berry fruit, the taste is mouth-watering and linear, with notes of rhubarb and lemon zest, along with crisp apple and crushed chalk, making this a refreshing aperitif with a pretty pale pink appearance.

MAISON MUMM RSRV ROSÉ FOUJITA

Producer: Maison Mumm
Blend: Pinot Noir: 70%, Chardonnay: 30%
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut
Approx UK Retail Price: £50
Medal: Silver

An expressive top-end pink fizz from Maison Mumm, named after artist Léonard Foujita, the rosé uses grand cru grapes, a broad range of reserve wines and a minimum of four years ageing to yield a rich style of rosé, with notes of vanilla and pie crust, with a hint of raspberry and red apple, rhubarb and hazelnut, complemented by a fresh, dry finish.

DEVAUX D, ROSÉ AGED 5 YEARS

Producer: Devaux
Blend: Pinot Noir: 55%, Chardonnay: 45%
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut (6g/l)
Approx UK Retail Price: £70
Medal: Gold (Champagne Masters 2021)

This lovely rosé from Devaux, which was a Gold medallist in our 2021 Champagne Masters, delivers the lovely grilled nutty notes that come with extended ageing on the lees – at least five years as the name suggests – the zestiness that fine Chardonnay brings to the blend, as well as the dry edge that one would expect from a low dosage of 6g/l. Flavour-wise there’s plenty of redcurrant fruit, with fresh apple and a touch of pear too, along with a creamy-textured mousse and lingering notes of chalk and roasted coffee bean.

LAURENT-PERRIER CUVÉE ROSÉ

Producer: Champagne Laurent-Perrier
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut
Approx UK Retail Price: £65
Medal: Gold

Considered the benchmark non-vintage rosé, Laurent-Perrier took home a gold this year for its enticing combination of red apple, cherry and berry fruit, with complementary notes of creamy coffee, toast, lemon zest, and chalk dust too.

BESSERAT DE BELLEFON, ROSÉ BRUT

Producer: Champagne Besserat de Bellefon depuis 1843
Blend: Chardonnay: 25%, Pinot Noir: 25%, Pinot Meunier: 50%
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut
Price Category: £50+
Approx UK Retail Price: £55
Medal: Gold

A gently bready, creamy style of rosé, with some ripe crushed red berry flavours, and a hint of roasted hazelnut, along with a firm, fresh, redcurrant and citrus finish.

RARE ROSÉ MILLÉSIME 2012

Producer: Champagne Besserat de Bellefon depuis 1843
Blend: Chardonnay: 70%, Pinot Noir: 30%
Vintage: 2012
Dosage: Brut
Approx UK Retail Price: £300
Medal: Gold

The pink sibling of this competition’s most consistent top scoring fizz, Rare Champagne, this rosé from the prestige cuvée-only brand that is Rare is a delicious, if pricy drop, that is, as its name suggests, made in tiny quantities. The current release of Rare Rosé comes from the critically-acclaimed 2012 harvest, and delivers a wonderful mix of vanilla and creamy coffee characters with notes of strawberry, redcurrant and apple, followed by a chalky, firm, fresh finish, with a touch of finely-textured tannin to add a dry touch to this complex pink Champagne.

PERRIER-JOUËT, BELLE EPOQUE ROSÉ 2012

Producer: Perrier-Jouët
Blend: Chardonnay: 50, Pinot Noir: 45, Meunier: 5
Vintage: 2012
Dosage: Brut
Approx UK Retail Price: £230
Medal: Gold

A fine expression of rosé, proving that pink Champagne can be just as deliciously layered and complex as its blanc counterpart, this expression from Perrier-Jouët had delicate cherry fruit with notes of red apple, cappuccino, hazelnut and a lingering, dry, fresh finish with a chalky taste and texture. This was our highest-scoring pink Champagne of 2022.

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About The Champagne Masters

The Champagne Masters is a competition created and run by the drinks business, and is an extension of its successful Masters series for grape varieties, such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as regions like Rioja and Tuscany. The competition is exclusively for Champagne, and the entries were judged using Schott Zwiesel Cru Classic glasses supplied by Sensible Wine Services. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding received the ultimate accolade – the title of Champagne Master.

The Champagnes were judged on 10 March at London’s Coravin Wine & Bubbles Bar by Patrick Schmitt MW, Patricia Stefanowicz MW, Jonathan Pedley MW, David Round MW, Susan Hulme MW, and Siobhan Turner MW.

Please visit The Global Wine Masters website for more information, or, to enter future competitions – giving you the chance to feature online and in print – please call +44 (0) 20 7803 2420 or email Sophie Raichura at: sophie@thedrinksbusiness.com

And finally…

Comtes de Dampierre, Cuvée des Ambassadeurs Rosé, Premier Cru

Producer: Comtes de Dampierre
Blend: Chardonnay: 85%, Pinot Noir: 15%
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut
Approx UK Retail Price: £55
Medal: Master – Global Rosé Masters 2022

A Master winner is this year’s Global Rosé Masters, this pink fizz from Comtes de Dampierre garnered top scores for its Chardonnay-dominant zesty, fresh character and delicate red berry notes, along with subtle hazelnut and chalk characters.

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