Read more: The Champagne Report 2024

An added splash of red wine to the regular white base is rarely the recipe to rosé excellence, but there is at least one exception: Ruinart Dom Ruinart Rosé. For its 2009 edition, 15 percent of Aÿ Pinot Noir red wine lends it such a gorgeous Burgundian spiciness and silky vinosity. This sublime and age-worthy ‘blanc de blancs rosé’ was my highest-scoring rosé Champagne in the Grande Marque Champagne Report 2024.

The very special red wine component is what creates the unique character of many prestige cuvée rosés. Take Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé 2015, where five percent of Pinot Noir red wine from Jacques Bollinger’s cherished Aÿ monopole plot La Côte aux Enfants is added, comes with spicy soulfulness and depth – not to mention a special story to tell. Equally, Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Rosé 2015 owes its one-of-a-kind, intensely fruity and savoury character to the red wine of Grand Cru Bouzy’s Clos Colin vineyard.

But prestige cuvée rosé’s greatness comes with a price tag. The scarcity of the ripe colouring and flavouring component keeps the volumes down and prices up. These rosés may typically be up to 50% more expensive than the white counterparts, some even more so. As such, these aren’t wines for everyday sipping. Great value for money, then again, can be found in vintage-tier rosés, a category that is regrettably becoming increasingly scarce. From vintage to vintage, Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Rosé is a great purchase in an age-worthy and structured style. Its 2016 iteration is particularly pleasurable and succulent. Another top pick, Louis Roederer’s sweetly fruity and vibrant Brut Nature Rosé 2015 bows to the old winemaking traditions of Champagne, as it is born as a field blend from a trio of biodynamically tended Cumières vineyards. Its red-wine element is the result of a gentle infusion of Pinot Noir from the same site. Belonging to the house’s much-loved trilogy of vintage cuvées, Pol Roger Rosé 2018 also pleased my palate in tasting for the Report, thanks to its full-of-fruit style.

Of the non-vintage rosés, I always warmly recommend Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé NV, the early pioneer in premium non-vintage rosé. Made exclusively of Pinot Noir using the rare maceration method, I encourage cellaring, which helps the wine show more of its vinous depths and fine gastronomic qualities. The rosé style entered late in the repertoire of Bollinger, as Lily Bollinger was not enthusiastic about pink bubbles. But luckily it did, as rosé suits the bold and savoury house style so well. Bollinger Rosé NV is always such a reliable and satisfying treat in its spice-laden complexity. I was also particularly delighted with Gosset Grand Rosé NV in tasting for the Grande Marque Champagne Report; time on lees has really worked its wonders, generating lovely yeasty and spicy complexities while maintaining the wine’s freshness and succulence.

There is hardly a more versatile Champagne style than rosé, and as a result I find it hard to accept when somebody declares a general dislike for rosé Champagne. I guarantee that with these picks, you will fall for the charm of fine rosé bubbles.