Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This pale and elegant rosé Champagne has lovely pink grapefruit and raspberry aromas, as well as some rosehips and rose petals. Silky and ripe but fresh and elegant, with a medium body and silky bubbles. 68% pinot noir (including 6% red wine and saignee rosé), 30% chardonnay and 2% meunier. 9 g/L dosage. Drink now.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Featuring a slight upgrade and design change for the label, the NV Champagne Brut Rosé has a pale pink/salmon hue and remains consistent with the first release, incorporating a touch of rosé de saignée with red wine from Clos de Goisses. The nose offers an additional layer of fresh pastry and strawberries, along with apricot, fresh raspberries, and powdery floral perfume. Medium to full body, it's fruity and refreshing, with a lively mousse and a clean finish. Disgorged November 2024. Drink 2025-2035.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek and minerally, with chiseled acidity defining flavors of crushed white raspberry, wet chalk, lemon thyme and blanched almond. Harmonious overall, with the refined mousse softening the impact of the firm structure. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Disgorged January 2025. Best after 2027.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fresh and precise on the nose, with red cherry skin and pink peach lifted by rose, violet, fresh thyme and a whisper of brioche. The palate is elegant and focused, moving through fresh cherry juice into a deep violet core, then tapering to a finely etched limestone finish. Poised and effortless, it shines beautifully.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Based on the 2021 vintage and disgorged in November 2024, Philipponnat’s newly released NV Brut Rosé—the successor to the Rosé Royale Réserve—derives its delicate color and vivid red-fruit character from a blend that incorporates 6% still red wine and a rosé de saignée component sourced from ripe grapes grown in Clos des Goisses and Les Riceys. It soars from the glass with notes of wild berries, brioche, cherry and honeysuckle. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a generous core of fruit, succulent yet vibrant acidity and a perfumed, delicately grapefruit-inflected finish. Its dosage of nine grams per liter isn’t immediately apparent when tasting begins, though as the wine slightly warms, the sweetness becomes less flattering to its overall impression. The assemblage consists of 68% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 2% Pinot Meunier.
The Philipponnat family have been growing grapes in Champagne since 1522. The House was founded in 1910 by Pierre Philipponnat. Charles Philipponnat took over as CEO in 1999 and has improved the quality and production vastly by implementing smaller oak barrels, keeping different vineyard plots separate and utilizing only the first press. The jewel in the crown of the House is the historic and iconic 5.5 hectares 'Clos des Goisses' vineyard that sits on a steep, south-facing 45° slope starting at the Marne River. This is one of the warmest vineyard sites in all of Champagne and is planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In 1935 'Clos des Goisses' was the first single vineyard Champagne produced and it would take over 50 years for other Houses to start producing serious Champagne just from a single Clos.
Philipponnat applies natural methods to work the soil, hoeing by hand and plowing with horses. The House's expertise is particularly apparent in its use of the solera process. This technique is a very longstanding House tradition; it consists of keeping reserve wines in oak barrels and including them in non-vintage blends (in a proportion of one quarter to one third) and using this blend as a reserve wine for the following blend.
This progressive dilution allows every bottle to retain a trace of previous years' wines blended since the very beginning. Successive Cellar Masters have attached great importance to handing down this expertise. Philipponnat was the first Champagne House to indicate the main year used in its non-vintage blends, the dosage, and the date of disgorgement on back labels, informing consumers and wine experts of the characteristics of each cuvée.
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.’