Champagne Rosé and Rosé de Saignée

Behind its fine bubbles and its seductive pinkish hues, the Rosé and Rosé de Saignée Champagne intrigue and fascinate us.

Indeed, the pink colour, with its thousand facets, so captivating, is obtained by two quite different methods.

WHERE DOES THE COLOUR OF ROSÉ CHAMPAGNE COME FROM?

There are two ways to obtain a pink coloured sparkling wine.

1.     The first is to vinify separately red wine recognised by the AOC Champagne and still white wine. They are then blended together before bottling and bubbling. Champagne is the only French region authorised to mix red and white wine.

2.     The second is based on the production principles of still rosé wines. The black grapes with white juice from the Pinot Noir or Meunier grape varieties are crushed with their skins. This gives the juice its colour during maceration. The result is a still Rosé wine, which is then processed in the same way as the white wines used to make white Champagnes.

HOW ARE THEY MADE?

ROSÉ CHAMPAGNE: THE TRADITIONAL METHOD

The grapes used can come from any of the three grape varieties of the Champagne region: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. Once harvested, the grapes are pressed to obtain a juice. This is placed in a vat, where it rests for several weeks. This is the first fermentation: the sugar in the fruit is transformed into alcohol. In the spring following the harvest, the winegrower blends the different still, colourless wines with the still red wine (not sparkling), which is made separately. The Rosé colour is obtained by incorporating this red Champagne wine into this blend of colourless wines. The quantity of red wine generally varies from 8 to 20% depending on the winemaker.

He then adds the liqueur de tirage, made up of wine, sugar and yeast. It causes a second fermentation, which leads to the formation of bubbles. Finally, the Champagne ages in the cellar. Once the ageing process is complete, it is regularly stirred to bring up the deposit, which forms naturally, in the neck of the bottle. The neck of the bottle is then immersed in a brine bath at -17°C to freeze the deposit. Under the pressure of the bubbles, the deposit is expelled. At this stage, the winemaker adds, or does not add, the liqueur d'expédition, dosage, in the bottle, which makes it possible to obtain Champagnes with no dosage, extra brut, brut, extra dry, dry, semi-dry or even sweet.

CHAMPAGNE ROSÉ DE SAIGNÉE : A REAL WORK OF GOLDSMITH

The grapes used are Pinot Noir and/or Meunier, the two black grape varieties of Champagne, from the same harvest. It is therefore a question of Vintages, whether claimed or not, made from a single grape variety or a blend of the two.

The grapes are often harvested at dawn, in the cool of the early morning, in order to preserve all their characteristics. When they arrive at the press, they are carefully de-stemmed and the grapes are selected for their quality.

Before being placed in the vat, the grapes are lightly crushed so that the skin splits and the juice can extract the colour contained in it for a very short period. The natural pigments contained in the skins of the black grapes will then colour the clear juice by enriching it with their aromatic components.

For this skin maceration, the difficulty is not to let the wine ferment for too long at the risk of tasting like red wine. This is why the musts are left to macerate briefly (from 12 to 48 hours, depending on the style of Champagne to be made and the characteristics of the harvest) with the skins of the grapes until the desired colour is obtained.

When the winemaker judges that the juice contains enough pigment to obtain the rosé that suits him (pale pink, rose petal pink, salmon, raspberry, grenadine, cherry, partridge eye, ...) he punctures the juice under the marc cake composed of skins floating on the must. This puncture is called bleeding. The partial removal of the bottom of the vat allows the fineness of the juice to be maintained.

Once separated from the skins, this rosé must will begin its fermentation according to the Champagne method.

WHAT DISHES SHOULD BE SERVED WITH A ROSÉ CHAMPAGNE?

Just as we do with wine, Rosé Champagne offers us the widest choice.

These Champagne de terroir Rosé allow us to be very daring.

As an aperitif or with dinner, each dish has its own Champagne: you must have the reflex to choose your Champagne exactly as you would do with a fine wine. 

And now that you know everything, visit our Boutique to choose your Cuvée Rosé or Rosé de Saignée to pamper yourself a little or to share it with your friends, following our tasting advice...

Cin cin et à votre santé!