About a month ago I attended an all Rose sparkling and Champagne tasting courtesy of the Tasting Panel Magazine, an annual event held just before the new year. This past year’s event was held at the charming Sotto Restaurant in LA.
The tasting is set up as a self-pour format and attended by various members of the press and wine community – people that can be trusted to spit and not over pour. I like the tasting as I can not only control the pour, I can usually complete the event in about 90 minutes. The downfall is that there is no way to take notes while holding my glass in one hand. I can only accomplish that at a sit-down tasting.
It’s important to me to give a shout out to the Tasting Panel Magazine for hosting this event, it really is quite a nice way to end the year and very generous of them to host it.
And for my readers had to wait until January to read this: Sparkling wine and Champagne can be enjoyed all year long, and not just for special occasions like New Year’s Eve. I learned the lesson well when reading and reviewing The Widow Clicquot, and I dare you to argue with her logic.
Now, moving on, I have the complete list of wines below that were shared, and some one-word descriptors (a bit wine-stained but I can make them out) in CAPS and italics for the wines I enjoyed the most and/or found the most interesting. You can also see a brief slideshow of my faves here in and under 1-minute YouTube.
The List
USA Michelle NV Brut Rosé – Columbia Valley
USA Gruet NV Brut Rosé – USA
USA Piper Sonoma NV Brut Rosé – Sonoma County WOW
USA Gloria Ferrer NV Blanc de Noirs – Carneros
USA Gruet 2010 Grande Rosé – New Mexico
USA Frank Family Vineyards 2011 Brut Rosé – Carneros
USA J. Schram 2007 Rosé – North Coast AGED GREAT
Tasmania Jansz Tasmania NV Premium Rosé – INTERESTING
Spain Cavas Hill NV Rosado 1887 – Cava
Spain Pere Ventura NV Tresor Brut Rosé – Cava WOW
Spain Vilarnau NV Brut Rosado – Cava
Italy Mionetto NV Prestige Gran Rosé – Veneto/Trentino
Italy Lamberti NV Spumante Rosé – Veneto IGT
Italy Masottina NV Cuvée Brut Rosé – Veneto IGT
Italy Buglioni Lo Spudorato 2013
Italy Ferrari NV Rosé – Trento DOC
Italy Ferrari Perle NV Rosé – Trento DOC YUM
France Charles de Fere NV Cuvée Jean-Louis Brut Rosé
France Charles de Fere NV Réserve Rosé – France
France Gratien & Meyer NV Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé – A.O.C.
France Grandin NV Brut Rosé – Loire Valley
France Le Grand Courtâge NV Grande Cuvée Brut Rosé
France Pierre Sparr NV Brut Rose – Crémant d’Alsace
France JCB by Jean-Charles Boisset NV No. 69 Rosé BRIGHT
Champagne Bernard Rémy Brut Rosé
Champagne Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte NV Brut Rosé WELL DONE
Champagne Lanson rose label brut
Champagne Alfred Gratien Classic Rosé
Champagne Veuve Clicquot NV Yellow Label Rosé PERFECT
Champagne Champagne Henriot Brut Rosé, NV BALANCED
Champagne Champagne Palmer Rose Reserve NV
Champagne GH Mumm Brut Rose NV LOVELY
Champagne Duval-Leroy Rosé Prestige Brut NV PERFECT
Champagne Ernest Remy Rosé de Saignée INTERESTING
Champagne Leclerc Briant Brut Rose NV UNIQUE
Champagne Leclerc Briant Rubis de Noirs 2006 UNIQUE
Champagne Champagne Philippe Gonet
Champagne Champagne Taittinger Prestige Rose
Champagne Gosset Grand Rose
Champagne NV Champagne Delamotte, Brut Rosé
Champagne Charles Heidsieck Rose Reserve NV YUMMY
Champagne Charles Heidsieck Vintage Rose 2006 OMG
Champagne Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque Rose 2006 OMG
Champagne Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 2004 PERFECT
Champagne Armand de Brignac Rosé PERFECT
Eve Bushman has been reading, writing, taking coursework and tasting wine for over 20 years. She has obtained a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, has been the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video, authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and recently served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits that may be answered in a future column. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com
