ROSE CHAMPAGNE

Among wine drinkers who know their Champagne, rose Champagnes are considered the Creme de la Creme. They are more expensive than golden Champagnes, a reflection of the fact that they are more difficult to produce, and they're far more rare, forming only about 5% of exports. There are two methods for making them. The first-and historical- method involves letting some the base wine sit in contact with Pinot Noir skins until it picks up enough color to tint the wine pink. The other method, more modern and more common, involves adding a small bit of still Pinot Noir wine into each Champagne bottle before second fermentation. This method us preferred for several reasons, among them the fact that such Roses seem to age better. Both processes are complex, and achieving a certain exact coloration is difficult, as lineup of Rose Champagnes will attest. The colors range from baby pink to deep copper. Though often mistakenly thought of as light and fairly simple, Rose Champagne can be richer and fuller than golden. The basic blend counts for a lot. The Rose might be a blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay- or just the opposite. A Rose can be made either way, but when you drink them the impressions the two wines make will be quite different.