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THE GOOD LIFE Wine In the pink


Once considered naff , rosé champagne is now the height of good taste


Words Jonathan Ray


FINE CHAMPAGNE IS all the rage. Despite bars, clubs, hotels and restaurants being shut during our various lockdowns, sales of cham- pagne have risen healthily in the UK as we drown our sorrows in style. Sales last Christ- mas were up 13 per cent on 2019 according to data analyst Nielsen, and Amazon notoriously caused panic among the fi zz-swilling classes when they ran out of Bollinger. The average price paid for a bottle of champagne in the UK has passed £25 for the fi rst time and the Champagne 50 currently outperforms all other indices at the London International Vintners Exchange. Most notable is the clamour for pink cham- pagne, once considered so naff and infra dig that the great Madame Bollinger refused to countenance it, believing it suitable only for the so-called ‘night market’ and for sipping from showgirls’ slippers. The company didn’t launch a non-vintage rosé until 2008. The trouble was that in Madame B’s day, rosé champagne was made from the lowest quality and damaged fruit, where colour had


Laurent-Perrier Brut Rosé NV (£62; Wait- rose) famously rules the roost as the best-sell- ing pink champagne of all and there is much pleasure to be had in non-vintage rosés. Indeed, I’m enjoying a glass of Henri


already leeched from the skins into the juice. Nowadays it’s made from the best. The key is fi ne red wine which adds struc- ture, colour and intensity. Almost all still rosés are made from red grapes, the juice spending just enough time on the skins to ab- sorb pale pink hues. Rosé champagne is made by adding red wine to white, a method largely forbidden elsewhere.


Three of the Best Vintage Rosé Champagnes


2012 Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé


(£125; Master of Malt)


From an exceptional year, a blend of two thirds Pinot Noir and one third Chardonnay given oomph and complexity – not to mention a gorgeous pale pink hue – by a judicious splash of Grand Cru single vineyard Pinot Noir. Fresh, fruity, creamy and inviting, it’s a stunning wine.


2007 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Grands Crus Rosé


(£189; Hedonism)


The rarest of all mighty Taittinger’s wines, a pink champagne of such weight, depth and concentration that it begs to be knocked back alongside a hearty assiette de fruits de mer or platter of fi ne, stinky cheeses rather than on its own as an aperitif.


2007 Dom Ruinart Rosé (£275; Fortnum & Mason)


As befi ts a house famed for its Chardonnay, this spectacular champagne is effectively Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs with added Grand Cru Pinot Noir. Succulent and fresh with decadent autumnal fruit, it’s both racy and mellow with luscious sweet fruit fi nishing perfectly dry.


Chauvet Cuvée Aphrodite Brut Rosé NV (£31; Private Cellar) as I write, a 100 per cent Pinot Noir from one of my favourite produc- ers. Moet & Chandon’s Rosé Impérial NV (£41; Tesco) is a charmer, too. Launched in 1996, it accounted for just 3 per cent of pro- duction; today, it accounts for 20 per cent. As for vintage champagne, wines such as the gloriously fresh, fruity, spicy 2012 Pol Roger Brut Rosé (£75; The Champagne Co) do nothing but cheer the soul. Pol doesn’t bother with a non-vintage rosé, reasoning that pink champers is a serious wine and should be treated as such. It’s at the top end that rosé champagne really sings, delighting both connoisseurs and col- lectors. Made in tiny quantities from the fi n- est fruit and lovingly aged, they look and taste great, whether drunk from glass or slipper. S


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