Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé

Taittinger's 2006 Comtes de Champagne Rosé blends Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with 16% red wine, mainly from Bouzy. Lovely, pure and fresh on the nose, with spicy sweet cherry aromas and red berry flavors, this is a rich and potent, full-bodied and firmly structured Rosé with nice purity and freshness. The finish reveals a sweet intensity and good length.

Tasted blind. Pale orangey copper. Some dry phenolic finish but there is lots of round, sweet fruit in the middle. Less lively than the other rosé champagnes but definitely richer, even though the end is definitely dry. Interesting wine!

Take Taittinger's prodigious chardonnay and add 15% pinot noir to create this masterful prestige rosé that has a mid red hue and plenty of assertive pinot red fruits on the nose. Really impressive aromas of Turkish delight, cherries, chalky minerals and pink grapefruit. The palate has a fine core with some bolder red fruit flavors and pinot noir weight. Really impressive, deep and even, with much to come if you hold for three to five years before drinking.