Wine Review of Non-Vintage De Lozey Rosé de Saignée Champagne, France
Score: 91+/100
This Champagne rosé by De Lozey house is made from the saignée style, meaning that the must was macerated on the grape’s skins to extract color and aromas, as opposed to being directly pressed or blended from red and white wines.
This is a 100% Pinot Noir (no Pinot Meunier), aged for 3 years on lees in bottle, longer than the minimum 24 months required bottle-aging for all Champagne wines.
The dosage (final added sugar after disgorgement) is at a moderately-high 10 grams per liter.
Tasting Notes
This pink Champagne wine comes in a rather intense salmon-pink color, filled with purple hues, unusual at this level of intensity, making the wine looking quite unique simply from its appearance. A characteristic of being a Rosé de Saignée I suppose, as opposed to being a blend.
The nose is quite pungently aromatic as well, bursting with vibrant fresh strawberry and blueberry notes. It is clearly zesty as well, with freshly-squeezed scents of lemon and grapefruit.
Add hints of pomegranate and ripe apricot, perhaps a little brioche and dough, and you’ll picture the profile of this wine’s very fruity and lively smell.
The palate is clearly dry, featuring a crisp and mineral acidity straight away as you put the wine in your mouth, one that is quickly followed by a salty feel with velvety phenolics emerging from the mid-palate on. This fresh acidic vibrancy is well balanced by a soft round body, and a sweet fruity sensation provided by a literal explosion of red berry and pomegranate flavors.
It’s so punchy and exuberantly fruity to taste!
From a fruitiness amplified by definite floral notes of lily and honeysuckle. The acidity underlines the citrus tones nicely, adding a zingy feel, like a squeeze of lemon does to a strawberry fruit salad. A welcome addition.
Rather long a finish on layers of fruit, slightly bitter and food-friendly dry phenolics, and touches of grass, green pepper and hay for some salivating sourness to the aftertaste.
Overall
A super-lively and pungent rosé Champagne sparkling wine, bursting with intense fruity aromas and flavors, yet quite deep thanks to several layers of fruit, spices, and leesy tones. Balancing this world of rich fruitiness is a dry mineral acidity and well-controlled hints of bitter/vegetal notes imprinting your senses with a welcome vinosity.
An ideal sparkling wine for drinking half on its own and half with food, to make the most of both its fruity goodness side and its sweet/sour/umami element. A great Champagne for pre-dinner cocktails.
Enjoy 🙂
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