A Discussion of Rose Champagne: Benchmark Vintage and N/V's?

WINE TALK
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Camille Saves is a nice tasty grower champagne…

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To me there are various Rose Champagnes that I consider benchmarks in their categories. I’ve tried to take a high level approach below by categorizing what I think are some of the leading efforts in their respective styles below (knowing some will argue with my generalizatons/categorizations).

To me, a benchmark is a wine that has been around for a while and has a track record. For this reason, I have left out numerous excellent Roses that have come on to the scene in the last decade, haven’t been released more than a handful of times so far, or have “upped their game” in the last decade. Over the next five to ten years, I expect this list will change.


Fruit Driven:

  • Henri Billiot NV
  • Ruinart NV
  • Camile Saves NV
  • Rene Geoffroy Rose de Saignee NV (almost always from one year)

Bigger Styled – Fruity, Spicy, and/or Meaty:

  • Vilmart NV
  • Paul Bara NV
  • Jean Laurent NV

Well Balanced - in Terms of Fruit, Spice, Minerality, and Richness:

  • Billecart-Salmon NV
  • Perrier-Jouet Blason NV
  • Deutz Cuvee William Deutz Vintage
  • Billecart Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon Vintage
  • Pol Roger Vintage
  • Veuve Clicquot Vintage
  • Drappier Grande Sendree Vintage

Vinous and Unique:

  • Larmandier-Bernier NV (almost always from one year)

Best Roses Produced:

  • Cristal Rose Vintage – always well balanced and drinks well young and with age
  • Taittinger Comtes Vintage – more fruit driven in style and drinks well young and with age
  • Dom Perignon Vintage – well balanced and shows its best with age
  • Ruinart Dom Ruinart Vintage – well balanced and shows its best with age
  • Vilmart Grand Cellier Rubis Vintage – bigger in style and drinks well young and with some age

For a couple non-Champagne bargains, Parigot’s Rose and Gloria Ferrer’s Blanc de Noirs (more a Rose than a Blanc de Noirs to me) set the bar.

*Edited to change spelling of “seen” to the correct “scene”

1 Like
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Many thanks for your categorizing list, Brad! [welldone.gif]

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Thank you Frank for your comments. I will seek out the 02 Pol Roger Rose. I, too, like the Aubry NV Rose. Regards, John

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Great work Brad,

Thanks for that. Just the sort of concise information I was after!!

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Heck give brad $50 or so a year and you get tons of this info. I really enjoy his newsletter… Very helpful for a champagne newbie like me navigating the bubbly waters.

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Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle Cuvee Alexandra Rose 1982 is the greatest rose champagne I have ever had. They are unfortunately hard to find. I also think Clicquot Grande Dame should be added to Brad’s list of superstar roses and I’m don’t think Taittinger comtes is all that.

I agree with most of the recommendations here, but I generally think non vintage rose is quite boring 90% of the time and I generally avoid it. One exception is Bollinger (the current release is outstanding). No other big houses make good non vintage rose to my taste, with the obvious exception of Krug. I think particularly Billecart Salmon NV rose is hugely overrated.

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Frank,

I agree that Grande Dame Rose is one of the best, but I didn’t consider it because it has only be released in 5 vintages to date (88-90, 95, 98). Not enough of a track record to be a benchmark in my eyes even though it likely will be added to my list in the future. For me, I used a cut-off point of a wine having to have had at least 7 releases with the first from 1995 or before to be considered a possible benchmark.

I like the L-P Grand Siecle Rose, but not as much as other Roses; some vintages have been a bit weaker compared to others IMO. I love the 2002 Bollinger Grande Annee Rose and think that since 96, this wine has been stellar. If future vintages of the Grande Annee Rose continue on like this, it will get up there too.

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[quote=“Frank H Herfjord”]Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle Cuvee Alexandra Rose 1982 is the greatest rose champagne I have ever had. They are unfortunately hard to find.quote]

I had a bottle of the 1990 a few years ago that blew me away - just wish I’d bought more bottles of it way back when before it screamed up in price.

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Brad - great post [welldone.gif]

Among the NVs, I’ve always been partial to LP (at least until they jacked the price) and Ruinart - both seem rock steady in quality, benefit by a bit of time in the cellar and show nice fruit and depth.

Recent standouts at the top for me have been the 1996 Cristal and 1996 Dom Ruinart - both need more age in my opinion, but WOW, these are/will be incredible - pricing is just so crazy on these (particularly the Cristal since direct import Ruinart can sometimes hit below $200), it makes them hard to pop open.

While I’ve enjoyed Dom Rose, I’ve just never yet experienced any magic in the bottle enough to justify the price.

What is your current view of the Clos de Goisses efforts with their 1999 and 2000? I tried a bottle of the 1999 early on and it was just far too young for me to tell anything…

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Was just thinking about the '96 Dom Ruinart Rose, as I noticed some older notes that showed I have had it (alongside the '96 Brut), and it was way too young to get much on it, but looked more promising than the Brut did…(got a bottle of both I’ll hold for a while though before trying again).

Am going to open a bottle of Larmandier-Bernier Rose de Saignee Brut 1er Cru NV. this weekend, which should be interesting, as I expect this will be much bigger than many of the more delicate styles, which as a young Champagne, I think might also be a good thing…

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Dan,

The 99 and 00 Clos des Goisses Rose are both very good and will need time to show their true colors, but neither are earth shattering. Of course, the vintages aren’t that special either. They both are a touch lighter than I would have expected based on the history of the wine and the white counterparts in these year. The Rose really breaks out with the 2002 vintage. Just a killer wine that is rock solid for drinking now or later. If the 2002 is a sign of what is to come then this is going to be way up there on the list of best Roses. One sleeper pick is the Philipponnat 1522 Rose. Not around long enough to make my list, but a standout wine that is ignored far too much. While Clos des Goisses is its own special thing, the 1522 is the best wine that shows the Philipponnat style in a prestige fashion.

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Brad,

Thanks for the thoughts - I wasn’t planning on buying the 2002 but may have to rethink that…

Never tried the 1522 Rose - is the 2002 the one to try with that one as well?

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Hmmm…

Just popped the cork on this, expected it to be much bigger and sweeter than what is seems, due to the pretty dark color.

Very dry and actually quite in the savory spectrum, rather than fruit driven, young and tight looking. Interesting, not really 100% sure if I really like it yet…will have to wait until I get a proper pour a bit later…

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Paul:

While I love vintage Blanc de Blancs mostly from Les Mesnil and Philipponat Clos de Goisses, I don’t drink much rose. Aside from the DP Rose the only one that’s gotten my attention was a recent Beaufort NV – made from 100% grand cru grapes. I have some tasting notes on the wine in the
Echezaux Tasting Notes that are currently on the board.

The person that brought this Champagne to the attention of the Burgonauts group was John Brincko, who buys huge quantities of high end Champagne. He said that the vintage wines are extremely good and worth a search. We couldn’t get any of their vintage bottlings on short notice but I have noted that they are very expensive on Wine Searcher.

Any opinions about this producer from Brad and the other rose experts?

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Dan,

I would recommend the 02 Clos des Goisses Rose. While the 99 and 00 may be a letdown to some folks based on the price and hype, the 02 is a clear winner across the board. The white 02 Clos des Goisses is stunning too.

As for the 1522, the 2002 Rose is the best to date though the 2000 and 2003 were both good too. It can be hard to find in the US. The white 1522 is easier to track down and also very good. An overlooked label.

Don,

I’m assuming you are talking about Andre et Jacques Beaufort in Ambonnay. Jacques makes excellent wines and was one of the first to follow the natural/organic/biodynamic movement in Champagne as he went down that path in the 1970s. I find the wines variable, but always interesting and expressive. What I like best about Beaufort is that they aren’t afraid to make sweet wines - Demi-Secs and Douxs. They have holdings in Ambonnay and Polisy with separate wines made from each and of course some blends too.Their Rose is a solid wine, but I have a problem with their pricing in the US. The wines seem to be 3-4 x the price they go for in French stores and I don’t know why. To me, I have no problem buying them in France, but won’t touch them in the US as the official import route has led to ridiculous pricing. I have seen some grey market bottles priced more in line.

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I’m w/ you on this one Paul. Really interesting. Definitely, not what I expected. And I don’t know if I like it or not. We tried one a couple of years ago & I keep meaning to try another one, but I think I’ll wait for cooler weather.

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Brad:

You’re quite correct. I have also seen the separate wines from Polisy, which John Brincko took pains to point out to us he thinks are not as good as those from Ambonnay. The problem in the US is of course North Berkeley Wines and their typical markups. I have a huge problem with that too. As I buy burgundy in France, it wouldn’t be much difficulty to buy the Beaufort there.

Any experience with/recommendations on their recent vintage offerings?

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Must admit, this did grow on me a bit, although the style is a bit different as mentioned.

I’m assuming what we drank is the most current NV release (pretty sure), so some more bottle time will also probably help it, as it seemed to get better after being open for more than an hour.

A real food style champagne though, and perhaps less successful for just sipping…

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Don,

I much prefer Beaufort’s Ambonnay wines to his Polisy wines. The Ambonnay wines have a lot more polish and cut and at their best show a great red fruit and mineral character that has a great intrinsic sweetness to it. Almost like a cross of 2/3 Marie Noelle Ledru and 1/3 Henri Billiot. The 2004 Ambonnay is a very good effort and one I would recommend (as long as you can buy in France). One thing to watch with this producer is that Jacques Beaufort’s sons started taking over in 2005 so it will be interesting to see how the future vintages do.

Paul,

Larmandier-Bernier’s Rose is very divisive. Many don’t even view it as a Rose Champagne, but rather as a very dry, sparkling, red. It is unique in the big picture of Rose Champagne. Another wine in this mold is Jacquesson’s Dizy Terres Rouges Rosé; the Jacquesson is a bit wilder in general, but still very similar.