Rosé-Pink Champagne

Rosé or ‘pink’ champagne can be produced in two ways: either by the saignée method whereby the clear juice of black grapes is left in contact with its skins for a short time, or, more commonly, by adding a small amount of still Pinot Noir red wine to the sparkling wine blend.

Rosé champagne is one of the few exceptions in the wine world where it is permissible to create rosé by adding red wine during blending. This method produces a colour that can be replicated, so each year the champagne looks the same, as you will see with the excellent Billecart Salmon Rosé. As the saignée method is comparatively expensive and more difficult for the winemaker, there are very few producers that continue to use it: Laurent Perrier and Louis Roederer are two that do.