Score : 91/100
Taittinger Prestige Rosé Champagne is almost a category in itself, in the sense that it is quite a different style to many other Rosé Champagnes, and more generally, to most pink sparkling wines.
What makes it distinctively different?
The color first, as you’ll see in the tasting notes below. It’s of a very intense pink.
Where does the secret lie?
Taittinger claims that “it is a blend, which is more complex and costly to produce. A quantity of still red wine (15%) produced from the best Pinot Noirs from Montagne de Reims and Les Riceys is in fact added to the final blend, to give this cuvée its unmistakable colour and vibrant intensity on the palate. The high proportion of Chardonnay (30%) that completes the blend brings the elegance and delicacy that underpin Taittinger’s signature style”.
The aromatic and flavor profiles also set it apart from most rosé sparkling bubblies I’ve tried: more savory in many regards, more vinous, more red-wine-like, yet with solid tension and elegance.
So how good Taittinger Prestige Rosé really is?
The answer is in the tasting notes:
The color of this rosé Champagne, as the video bellow shows, is of a pink, slightly salmon color (a touch of orange hue). More importantly, the color is very deep and intense.
The nose smells of fresh strawberry, rose petals and violette, it’s intense and fruity. There is a vinous element to it however, so it doesn’t smell artificial. The aroma is sophisticated, and has a savory feel rather than a sweet red berry jam one sometimes found in rosé bubblies.
This impression is confirmed on the palate. Firstly, it’s dry. The in-your-face pink color makes you expect a wine with some sweetness to it. Instead, it feels bone-dry, yet well balanced.
Good acidity makes this Champagne lively with great tension all along the tasting (or you could call it enjoyment if you like your Champagne to be crisp ‘acidically’ alive!).
Bubbles are fine backed up by a velvety texture from discrete tannins. The whole giving an elegant round texture.
Flavorwise, the high proportion of Chardonnay in the blend for a rosé (30%) shines and brings minerality and fresh lime flavors. The grape is also most-probably responsible for the great tension on the palate.
The red grapes bring their typical grapefruit (orange even) and red berries character we love and expect in this type of bubbly.
The solid amount of still red Pinot Noir wine used in the blend (15%) contributes his vinosity and depth. It adds complex savory notes of forest floor, truffle, and the distinctive vinosity (meaning that it instinctively tastes like wine rather than just fruit juice) apparent on the nose and mentioned earlier.
The finish is also distinctively salty accentuating the mineral feel to the wine. Perhaps another influence of the quality Chardonnays used in the blend.
Overall
This Taittinger Prestige is a gourmet and gastronomic rosé Champagne made for connoisseurs of fine Champagne bubbles.
It’s fruity, floral, complex, and very pink.
But to this upfront feminine side (please allow me the term feminine, though it’s obviously arguable), it also brings a wealth of minerality and some earthiness providing sophisticated elegance and depth.
The whole showcases a great concentration of aromas and flavors, acidic and savory balance that calls for wine & food paring creativity, and complexity and refinement.
Not your everyday rosé Champagne perhaps. But one to try, certainly, to see if its distinctive androgynous personality (masculine and feminine), and its fruity/savory flavor profile would match the 3 most important aspects of your wine pleasures:
- suit your palate
- match your food and wine paring plans
- accommodate your special life celebration events.
Up to you to give a try and judge…
Let me know in the comments.
Enjoy, JM 🙂
Check Out the Color of this Taittinger Prestige Rosé – Tottaly Pink!!
Please let me know your thoughts