In the Pink - Rosé Champagne

Rosé champagne may be known as a pink version of champagne but a good one needs to be much more than just that.

WORDS by Sara Underdown

Rosé, alluringly pretty to the eye with its spectrum of pink, salmon and amber hues, should taste different to other types of champagne, especially classically blended ones on which they are sometimes based.

Styles of rosé – like their colours – vary by the depth and breadth of their composites. They can be full-bodied or incredibly light, fruit-forward or savoury, vinous or lithe,with tannins or without, sweet or dry. However, rosés are most often refreshing and lively with strawberry and raspberry aromas featuring a slightly full, yet crisp, mouthfeel. With their summery appeal, most are produced to be consumed young although some can be made for long-ageing potential developing complex, full-bodied and powerful profiles over time.

Distinctions can be enhanced or reduced in different ways, depending on winemaking.

Irrespectively, all rosés need particularly ripe black grapes, making them more costly to produce than most other wines from the region. Ripe black berries, especially those from older vines, are more intense and concentrated in flavour and colour, requiring good soil and growing conditions to reach their full potential. They impart the necessary fruit and structural profile required for elaborating rosé styles but, more than this, because yeast ‘leaches’ colourfrom the wine during fermentation, it’s important to have strongly coloured black fruit to retain colour profile.

The power and intensity of black fruit was the basis for much of Champagne’s fame in the 18th and 19th Centuries, during which time the pinot noir kingdoms of Aÿ and Bouzy were celebrated for their still red wines. Producers to this day are still proud to declare if their rosés comprise red wine from these renowned villages of old. These historical connections now play a major role in the predominant method of rosé production for many Grandes Marques, which is by the addition method.

The addition method involves adding a component of still red wine to other base wines to form the ultimate blend. This component can vary, depending on the outcome desired, but it’s rarely more than 20 percent. Anymore and the cuvée would lose its sense of lightness and crispness. Depending on the level of ripeness and amount added, the addition method can be quite vinous and full-bodied with excellent fruit profile and low or no tannins.

The other key method for producing rosé champagne is via saignée. Grape must is allowed to remain in contact with skins for a short period of time – anywhere from a few hours to several days. Pigmentation from dark skinned grapes begins to colour the juice whilst enriching it with aromatics. Following this maceration, juices are bled off and then fermented and used in their own right or fermented and blended with other base wines. Proponents of this method believe that it produces greater fruit purity and noticeable tannins. However, these are generally not an overtly ‘grippy’ phenolic style of tannin; they are gentle and fine.

Another elaboration of rosé, although nowhere near as common, is a still rosé called Rosé des Riceys. This still version heralds from the Côte des Bar located in the Aube department in the deep south of Champagne. Uniquely, it’s the only wine producing region in France made up of three dedicated appellations; AOC Champagne, AOC Côteaux Champenois (red wine) and AOC Rosé des Riceys. For production of this still wine, most producers follow the saignée method of crushing the grapes and then running the juice off the skins after a short maceration. Juice is then fermented and allowed to age or be bottled, but without a second fermentation process.

Rosé des Riceys wines are often light to medium bodied (although in a ripe year it can be quite full) and can vary from fruity to savoury in profile, minus the effervescence, and provide a good insight into the terroir of the Aube.

With summer heating up, try these lip-smacking rosé champagnes to get you thinking and put you in a good mood.

Louis Roederer Vintage Rosé 2012

63% pinot noir, 37% chardonnay. Made using the saignée method with maceration lasting between 5 – 8 days. 24% vinification in oak casks. No malolactic fermentation. Aged 4 years on lees. 9 g/L dosage.

Louis Roederer’s masterfully constructed saignée rosé strikes a chord between tannin, fruit and chalk. Their signature technique is to add chardonnay juice to the pinot noir maceration and coferment. According to chef de cave, Jean- Baptiste Lécaillon, it produces a greater declaration of flavour but also more refined tannins.

Roederer’s interpretation of 2012 offers all the delights of the vintage, visually interpreted by salmon coloured hues flecked with pink. It is bright and crisp, with a real sense of ‘running down your chin’ berry juiciness made all the more generous by inclusion of pinot noir sourced from south-facing Cumières. Some lovely complexity with mocha and toast builds intensity. Partial oak vinification and long lees ageing imparts some softness from a creamy texture; its elegance further enhanced by gentle tannins and a fine chalky finish. One of the best from 2012.

Laherte Frères Rosé de Meunier Extra Brut NV

100% meunier made three ways: 60% made as a white (including 40% reserve wine aged in barrel); 30% blended as a saignée; and 10% made as a still red wine. Partial malolactic fermentation. 2.5 g/L dosage.

Aurélien Laherte’s personal style is revealed in this off-beat rosé from his portfolio of ‘special and original cuvées’ offering boldness of character heightened by low dosage and elegant minerality.

Sourced from old meunier vines on clay soils located in Chavot, south of Epernay, Rosé de Meunier is flamboyantly characterful, revealing meunier in a way uncommonly seen. Think summer in Sardinia or on the Amalfi Coast and you’re almost there. With its bright orangey salmon hue, Aurelien’s complex assemblage speaks of Campari aperitifs on the terrace with its prominent rhubarb and vermouth infused aromatics. There’s plenty of fresh fruit too; strawberry, orange and crisp red apple. The ripeness of fruit makes things appear fuller on the palate but its low dosage, bright acidity and fine minerality keeps things fresh and structured.

Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé NV

100% pinot noir sourced mostly from the Montagne de Reims. Made using the saignée method with maceration lasting between 48 – 72 hours. Stainless steel vinification. Aged 4 years on lees.

Always delightfully fresh and youthful, it’s no wonder Laurent-Perrier’s Cuvée Rosé is the world’s best-selling rosé champagne. Some 50 years on from its launch in 1968, Cuvée Rosé remains remarkably true to its creator’s vision to produce a subtle and well-rounded wine with aromatic depth.

This is an easy-to-drink style characterised by lively raspberry and strawberry notes, the faintest touch of spice and dusting of chalk. There is a level of precision to this cuvée that makes it much more than just a party quaffer; it’s smart and sharp, dry and clean, yet it remains satisfyingly supple. Finely tuned palates may also detect some delicate tannins which contribute to what is a nicely structured champagne.

Serve this on the lawn as the sun’s going down with sashimi and sushi and you’ll be sure to please your guests.