Winemaker Notes
Charles Heidsieck 2018 Vintage Rose is an elegant copper hue. Generous floral and fruity aromas. Notes of peony, rose, violet, white musk, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, pomegranate, lemon, blood orange, tea, and licorice.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Also disgorged in 2024, the 2018 Champagne Millesime Rosé is 9% red wine from Les Riceys, Bouzy, and Ambonnay. Floral and inviting, it reveals notes of strawberries, cherry blossoms, and wet stones. The acidity has focus, and this vintage exhibits a refinement with a silky, soft, stony texture. It’s medium-bodied, with a very elegant feel in this vintage, featuring a totally charming fruitiness that is well reined in. Drink now or over the next 15 years or more.
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James Suckling
Rich and delicious with sliced-strawberry and pie-crust aromas and flavors with hints of cooked butter. Full-bodied with layers of fruit and fine bubbles. More like a delicate red on the palate. Pinot noir from Bouzy and chardonnay mostly from Vertus. Dosage 9 g/L. Drink now.
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Wine Spectator
A well-structured Champagne, with a creamy mousse and sense of finesse. Offers flavors of crushed raspberry, passion fruit coulis and toasted brioche, plus accents of lime peel, smoke and spices. Rich yet refreshing, with the refined, lively bead carrying the profile through the lasting finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Disgorged 2024. Drink now through 2040. 50 cases imported.
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Decanter
The addition of 9% red wine to the 2018 white blend does lend this rosé the edge in terms of complexity and drama in this accessible vintage offering from Charles Heidsieck, which shows pink grapefruit, ginger powder and plush raspberry fruit over a sweet plum skin and bright pink grapefruit palate. The touch of grip the red Pinot addition brings is beautifully invigorating, although the main impression is still of refinement and grace.
What are the different types of sparkling rosé wine?
Rosé sparkling wines like Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, and others make a fun and festive alternative to regular bubbles—but don’t snub these as not as important as their clear counterparts. Rosé Champagnes (i.e., those coming from the Champagne region of France) are made in the same basic way as regular Champagne, from the same grapes and the same region. Most other regions where sparkling wine is produced, and where red grape varieties also grow, also make a rosé version.
How is sparkling rosé wine made?
There are two main methods to make rosé sparkling wine. Typically, either white wine is blended with red wine to make a rosé base wine, or only red grapes are used but spend a short period of time on their skins (maceration) to make rosé colored juice before pressing and fermentation. In either case the base wine goes through a second fermentation (the one that makes the bubbles) through any of the various sparkling wine making methods.
What gives rosé Champagne and sparkling wine their color and bubbles?
The bubbles in sparkling wine are formed when the base wine undergoes a secondary fermentation, which traps carbon dioxide inside the bottle or fermentation vessel. During this stage, the yeast cells can absorb some of the wine’s color but for the most part, the pink hue remains.
How do you serve rosé sparkling wine?
Treat rosé sparkling wine as you would treat any Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, and other sparkling wine of comparable quality. For storing in any long-term sense, these should be kept at cellar temperature, about 55F. For serving, cool to about 40F to 50F. As for drinking, the best glasses have a stem and a flute or tulip shape to allow the bead (bubbles) and beautiful rosé hue to show.
How long do rosé Champagne and sparkling wine last?
Most rosé versions of Prosecco, Champagne, Cava or others around the “$20 and under” price point are intended for early consumption. Those made using the traditional method with extended cellar time before release (e.g., Champagne or Crémant) can typically improve with age. If you are unsure, definitely consult our Customer Care team for guidance.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’