A great rosé Champagne must be made from very ripe grapes, which are sometimes difficult to obtain in the Champagne climate. As a result, Louis Roederer has chosen to invest in one of the earliest Champagne crus, Cumières, for which the steeply-sloping, shallow clay and limestone soils face south and benefit from the additional light reflected from the river Marne, enabling phenolic maturity to be achieved. In these select terroirs, Louis Roederer applies the precise winemaking methods required for the production of a saignée rosé. The style of this rosé is elegant, full-bodied and with delicate fruitiness..

Louis Roederer's Rosé Vintage is 100% estate-bottled from the grapes of the historic family-owned vineyards in Cumières, Chouilly and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ.

A rosé created by a long, gentle infusion of Pinot noir that extracts its juicy ripeness while preserving its tremendous saline freshness. In this process, some Chardonnay juices are added to the Pinot noir maceration, to ferment together and achieve the perfect integration of the two grape varieties. 15% vinified in oak casks, with 21% undergoing malolactic fermentation. The dosage is 7 g/l.

The harvest took place between August 31st and September 9th, 2017.

Bolder and deeper pink hue with bright red tints. Steady flow of dynamic bubbles. Intense Pinot Noir bouquet of zesty citrus (Etna oranges) and red fruit (wild raspberries) with a fresh, reductive edge, which is something of a feat in a sunny year such as 2018. We have the sensation of a vinous, powerful Pinot Noir in a wine that is fresh, broad and juicy on the palate. The minerality imparted by the soil is in balance with the sunny nature of the vintage: We have the impression of velvety breadth and chalky freshness. The tannic structure is there, lending the wine depth and endowing it with a full-bodied, savory and mouth-watering quality. Freshness then takes over, giving way to some dynamic, powdery sensations that are almost chalky and ferrous in character. We have the impression of a firm, vinous wine, perfect for gastronomy. The champagne crescendoes to a magnificently saline and savory finish.

With the 2018 vintage, our vintage rosé champagne is taking a new direction. Climate change and the successively drier and sunny summers have altered the profile of the Cumières grapes. This change convinced us of the need to look for Pinot Noir grapes that would provide additional intensity and aromatic freshness... as well as adding more tannic structure due, in particular, to slower ripening... without losing the charming, juicy hallmark character of the “Rivière” vineyards' southfacing slopes. So, in the early 2010s, we embarked on a deeper exploration of the mesoclimate found in our vineyards at the mouth of the river in order to locate grapes with this profile. We carried out numerous trials in which we infused the Pinot Noir grapes from different plots until, in 2018, we found our future direction!

The result is our 2018 vintage rosé Champagne, which retains a good proportion of the taste-filled Cumières grapes but is now complemented by a wider, more complex array of aromas originating from plots in Chouilly and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Our rosé champagne boasts a deeper color; its palate remains juicy, but a more tannic structure adds depth and a mouth-watering, textured mouthfeel that lengthens the finish.