The Best Rosé Champagnes to Drink All Year Round

Best Overall

Laherte Frères Rosé de Meunier NV

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In a sea of sublime Rosé Champagnes, Laherte Frères takes the crown. This family-owned estate’s roots date back to 1889, and today, the winery is overseen by the dynamic Aurélien Laherte. In addition to preaching the gospel of organic farming in the region, Laherte also founded Terres et Vins in 2009, which comprises some of the region’s most forward-thinking and progressive winemakers in the region. Every year, the group gets together and tastes vins clairs—that is, the base wines for Champagne—and discusses important topics around farming and vinification. 

Laherte Rosé de Meunier is not only delicious but also incredibly unique. Whereas many Champenoise winemakers use Pinot Meunier as second or third fiddle, Laherte exclusively uses it for this prestigious cuvée. Fruit for this wine comes from 25 to 40-year-old vines and is crafted from 30% macerated grapes, 60% directly pressed juice, and 10% still red Meunier. Disgorgement is done by hand. Expect flavors of ripe raspberry, orange zest, dried herbs, and chalk to dominate this rich, focused, and extremely refreshing Champagne.

Region: Coteaux Sud d'Epernay (between Marne Valley and Côte des Blancs), Champagne, France | Variety: Pinot Meunier (100%) | Tasting notes: Raspberry, orange zest, dried herbs, chalk

Best Non-Vintage

Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé

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If you’re looking for a reliable, crowd-pleasing, high-quality Rosé Champagne, put Billecart-Salmon’s Brut Rosé at the top of your list. It’s a go-to for wine professionals and enthusiasts all over the world, and while it’s not inexpensive (relatively speaking), the value of this wine at its average price tag is impressive.

This non-vintage is a blend of nearly 40 percent chardonnay (which is uncommon in Rosé Champagnes), 30 percent Pinot Meunier, and 30 percent pinot noir and is a beautiful, pale blush in color; it’s light yet lush, full of ripe red berry notes, and intensely and elegantly effervescent. Billecart-Salmon’s Brut Rosé is a timeless expression of the family-owned house and of the Champagne region in rosé form.

Price at time of publish: From $95 for 750ml Bottle

Region: Aÿ (Marne Valley), Champagne, France  | Variety: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier (varies by year)  | Tasting notes: Ripe red fruits, citrus zest

Best Vintage

Laurent Perrier Alexandra Rosé 2004

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Laurent Perrier is one of the most historic and renowned houses in all of Champagne. The estate’s modern-day name, Laurent Perrier, was created by Mathilde Emile Perrier, who both expanded the winery’s holdings and combined two family names after her husband’s death. Following Mathilde, the house was sold to Marie-Louise Lanson de Nonancourt, and over the past century, has regularly been spearheaded by powerhouse female leads.

Alexandra Rosé is the estate’s single-vintage Rosé Champagne, first produced in 1987. Crafted from an 80/20 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, this satisfying and satiating wine jumps with flavors of red currants, tangy citrus fruits, and dried rose hips. The wine’s bright acid and mineral-driven structure create an all-sensory experience. Now with nearly two decades of age on it, the wine is showing tertiary, gamey undertones that only time can provide. The wine was disgorged in 2012 after aging for eight years on the lees. This is truly an unforgettable bottle.

Price at time of publish: $350

Region: Marne Valley, Champagne, France | Variety: Pinot Noir (80%), Chardonnay (20%) | Tasting notes: Red currants, tangy citrus, dried rose hips, game

Best Biodynamic

Champagne Leclerc Briant Brut Rosé NV

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As organic and biodynamic farming continues to become more prevalent in Champagne, producers like Champagne Leclerc Briant remain at the forefront of the change. The estate was one of the first to implement organic practices in its vineyards back in the 1960s, followed by biodynamic principles in 1988 (the estate officially received its Demeter certification in 2003). Today, Leclerc Briant farms 10 hectares of vines amongst a handful of premier and grand cru vineyard sites in the Marne Valley and Côte des Blancs. Additionally, the team purchases fruit from eight hectares of organically-farmed vines cultivated by trusted sources.

Leclerc Briant’s Rosé Champagne is crafted mostly from Chardonnay from Couilly and Montgueux, with 5% of Pinot Noir sourced from the Aube added in. The wine spends two years aging on the lees in the bottle prior to release and is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with only low levels of sulfites, as well as less than three grams of dosage. Expect a bright and racy wine marked by flavors of peach skin, grapefruit zest, star fruit, and chalk. Pair with seared tuna, scallops, or a variety of sushi and sashimi.

Price at time of publish: $81

Region: Marne Valley, Champagne, France | Variety: Chardonnay (95%), Pinot Noir (5%)  | Tasting notes: Peach, passionfruit, grapefruit, chalk

Best Alternative

Gruet Brut Rosé

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For budget-friendly, easy-to-find pink bubbles, look no further than Gruet’s Brut Rosé. Crafted using the same method as Champagne, this varietal Pinot Noir sparkler jumps with flavors of strawberry, white cherry, and toast. It’s perfect for sipping at any time of day, from weekend brunches to pre-dinner aperitifs and everywhere in between.

Based in the heart of New Mexico, Gruet was founded by Gilbert Gruet back in 1984. Originally from Champagne, Gruet was captivated by the terroir of New Mexico, which he discovered on a family vacation. Now nearly four decades later, the estate is crafting some of the most delicious and accessible bubbles in all of the United States. In terms of quality-to-price ratio, these wines seriously overdeliver.

Price at time of publish: $17

Region: New Mexico, USA | Variety: Pinot Noir (100%) | Tasting notes: Strawberry, white cherry, toast

Best Splurge

Krug Rosé

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Matthieu Yamoum, Wine Director at the Baccarat Hotel New York (and master saberer, which is a thing), has a solid recommendation for those who want to go all out this holiday season (or whenever, really). “Krug Rosé [is a] wine with a lot of character and structure,” he says, noting that this Champagne makes for a great apéritif or pairs well with dinner. “Its notes of mandarin peel, white cherries, and slight smokiness won’t make you forget about it anytime soon! You can even get all the details about the bottle by scanning the QR code located on the back label.”

Price at time of publish: From $370 for 750ml Bottle

Region: Marne Valley, Champagne, France | Variety: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier (varies by year)  | Tasting notes: Mandarin peel, white cherries, slight smokiness

Best Value

Lanson Le Rosé

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It’s not easy to find great Champagne under $50. Luckily, Champagne Lanson, which has been in the game since 1760, has made its centuries of tradition and expertise both accessible and approachable in the form of its core collection, which consists of Le Black Label Brut, Le White Label Sec (a sweeter style), and Le Rosé, to name a few. The house has been producing Le Rosé for over 60 years, and unsurprisingly, it’s become a widely beloved bottle over time.

This award-winning rosé Champagne is peachy-pink in color and is made up of vintages spanning the last two decades, then aging for a four-year period before bottling. It’s fruit-forward, soft, toasty, and full of bright citrus on both the nose and palate with a long, fresh finish.

Price at time of publish: From $70 for 750ml Bottle

Region: Marne Valley, Champagne, France | Variety: Pinot Noir (53%), Chardonnay (32%), Pinot Meunier (15%) | Tasting notes: Tart red fruits, bright citrus, toast

Best Budget

Segura Viudas Cava Brut Rosé

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As we mentioned earlier, it’s generally pretty tough to find a good Champagne under, say, $50, so if you’re looking to stock up on rosé bubbles without breaking the bank, you’ll want to consider looking to other winemaking regions outside of Champagne. Cava is a natural alternative––it’s made in Spain using the same method as Champagne (known as the Méthode Champenoise/Traditionelle, or the traditional method), and you can often find seriously good bottles at a fraction of the price you’d pay for a quality Champagne.

For example, Segura Viudas produces a delicious, balanced, and bright brut rosé (or rosado) that sells on average for around $10. This brut rosé cava is made from both Garnacha and the rare Trepat grape, a black variety native to Spain, and is delightfully crisp with notes of tart cherry, pomegranate, and strawberry leading into a soft, lingering finish.

Price at time of publish: $11

Region: Penedès, Catalonia, Spain | Variety: Garnacha, Trepat | Tasting notes: Tart cherry, pomegranate, strawberry

Best Low-Dosage

Louis Roederer Brut Nature Rose 2012 by Philippe Starck

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Behold one of the greatest Champagne and art collaborations of all time: the Louis Roederer and Philippe Starck Brut Nature 2012 collection. Starck’s funky label is designed to mirror the wine inside and vice versa—the idea here was to create something that was “honest, minimal, diagonal, [and] modern” to both the eye and the palate, and the duo (Starck and Louis Roederer CEO Frédéric Rouzaud) achieved the latter by going for a blanc and a rosé on the driest end of the Champagne sweetness scale.

For reference, the term “Brut Nature” indicates that a Champagne contains less than 3 grams of residual sugar per liter of wine. Again, 2012 is an excellent vintage when it comes to Champagnes, and thanks to the minimal sugar content in this Brut Nature, the fruit is front and center in this striking, austere rosé. A biodynamically farmed blend of 55 percent pinot noir, 25 percent Pinot Meunier, and 20 percent chardonnay, the Louis Roederer Brut Nature Rosé 2012 by Philippe Starck skews pale orange in color; on the nose, there’s a weird yet cool art party with violets, cocoa, juicy raspberry, toasted brioche, saline, and a slight hint of peppercorn in attendance, and the palate is equally intriguing with bright acidity and an impressively long, evolving finish. If you’re looking to celebrate something (literally anything), find this wine and thank us later.

Price at time of publish: $105

Region: Marne Valley, Champagne, France | Variety: Pinot Noir (55%), Pinot Meunier (25%), Chardonnay (20%) | Tasting notes: Juicy raspberry, toasted brioche, saline