Rosé Champagne

Rosé Champagne is a sparkling pink wine from the Champagne region of France, usually made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Expect strawberry, raspberry and red cherry alongside citrus, brioche and toast. Fresh but fuller-flavoured than many sparkling wines, it’s brilliant with salmon, prawns, sushi, roast chicken, charcuterie and berry desserts.

Taste:

All the elegance of Champagne, just with a little more fruit and a much better colour palette.

Rosé Champagne is typically dry, with high acidity and fine, persistent bubbles. Expect strawberry, raspberry and red cherry alongside lemon, grapefruit and sometimes blood orange.

Time spent ageing on the lees adds classic Champagne flavours of brioche, biscuit, toast and nuts, while longer-aged examples can develop richer notes of dried fruit, spice and baked pastry.

The addition of red-wine character generally gives Rosé Champagne a little more body and fruit than many white Champagnes, while keeping that signature freshness.

Pretty, yes. Lightweight, absolutely not.

Food Pairings:

Rosé Champagne's combination of red fruit, acidity and bubbles makes it incredibly versatile with food.

Salmon is an excellent match, whether smoked, grilled, roasted or served as sushi. It also works beautifully with prawns, crab, lobster, tuna, scallops and seafood platters.

For Asian food, try sushi, sashimi or tempura.

Rosé Champagne can handle meat surprisingly well too. Roast chicken, duck breast, charcuterie, prosciutto and pâté are all excellent matches.

The bubbles make fried food another easy win, particularly fried chicken, calamari and tempura prawns.

For cheese, try Brie, Camembert or other creamy soft cheeses.

Fruitier styles can even work with strawberry tart, raspberry desserts, berry cheesecake or fresh strawberries.

Similar Wines:

If you enjoy Rosé Champagne, Champagne is the obvious place to explore the wider range of styles from the region.

English Sparkling Wine is worth trying for another traditional-method sparkling wine often made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

Franciacorta offers prestigious Italian bottle-fermented bubbles, while Crémant opens up traditional-method sparkling wines from across France.

Enjoyed this one? Give it a heart and we'll use your favourites to recommend other wines we think you'll love.

More About Rosé Champagne:

Rosé Champagne must come from the Champagne region of France and follow the same strict production rules as other Champagne.

There are two principal ways to create the pink colour. Producers can blend a small amount of still red wine – usually made from Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier – into the base white wine before the second fermentation. Alternatively, they can allow the juice brief contact with dark grape skins, a method known as saignée.

The blend method is particularly notable because Champagne is one of the rare prestigious European appellations where blending red and white wine to make rosé is permitted.

Centuries of rules, classifications and tradition.

Then someone said, "Just add a bit of red."

Iconic.