Time to pop open the pink wine: It’s National Rosé Day. And what better way to add flair to the holiday than opting for a bottle of rosé sparkling wine?
From Champagne to California, sparkling wine producers make rosé versions of your favorite bubbles by allowing red grapes, such as Pinot Noir, to macerate on the skins to give the wine a subtle pink hue. Compared with a typical blend or a blanc de blancs, rosé sparkling wine tends to have a more powerful body, floral aromas, and flavors of strawberries, red berries, and plums. If it’s produced in the traditional Champagne method, add to the palate layers of minerals, nuts, and yeast for a complex drink that surely proves why rosé bubbles have been in demand long before the recent rosé wine craze.
Whether it hails from the hillsides of northern Italy or the vineyards on Long Island, N.Y., the key to great rosé sparkling wine is the consistent stream of refined bubbles floating up the glass. Fortune tasted through a selection of top bottles—including vintage Champagnes, rosé Proseccos, California sparklers, and even a few cans—to narrow it down to these 12 bottles to uncork in honor of National Rosé Day.
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé 2007: Vintage champagne is only produced in exceptional years and for Taittinger, 2007 was one of them. Its prestige bottling, the Comtes de Champagne rosé, includes only grand cru grapes, a blend of 70% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims and 30% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs. The elegance of the wine really shows in the refined effervescence—delicate bubbles unlike other sparkling wines tasted—and the complexity of flavors: red fruit wrapped with mineral, almond, and yeasty notes, plus a creamy finish. Suggested retail price: $263
Krug Rosé 24th Edition: A fuller-bodied rosé, Krug’s 24th Edition really grabs your attention with its mix of all three major Champagne grapes: 40% Pinot Noir, 32% Meunier, and 28% Chardonnay. One of the few remaining houses to ferment their wines in oak, Krug designs its wines to pair well with savory foods, and the rosé works with dishes you wouldn’t think of for Champagne. (We tried it with herbed pork.) The 24th Edition combines grapes from the 2012 vintage blended with reserve wines from as far back as 2006, resulting in a complex sparkling rosé with a balance of fruit, floral, mineral, and spice notes on the palate. Don’t forget to look up the Krug ID on your bottle for music pairings, food suggestions, and more about the bubbles. SRP: $375
Ruinart Rosé NV: Ruinart invented rosé Champagne back in the 18th century, so not surprisingly, it is still master of the style. The house’s nonvintage brut rosé is one of the go-tos for plenty of in-the-know Champagne drinkers: almost 50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Côtés de Blancs and Montagne de Reims, respectively, with tropical fruit, raspberries, grapefruit, balanced acidity, and a hint of herbs. It drinks as well on a sailboat as it does your couch, and pretty much everywhere in between. Now, it comes in an ultrathin, recycled paper case dubbed the “second skin,” which reduces its carbon footprint by 60%. SRP: $90
Louis Roederer Philippe Starck Brut Nature Rosé 2012: The third vintage in the collaboration between the Champagne Louis Roederer team and artist Philippe Starck, this vintage rosé is simply delightful. It is designed in a brut nature style, meaning there is no liqueur de dosage (a.k.a. sweetness) added in the process. The result is a pale, salmon-hued, mineral-driven rosé with hints of raspberries, flowers, almonds, and yeast that has more bracing acidity and starkness than the more common brut style. (It’s 55% Pinot Noir with 25% Meunier and 20% Chardonnay.) Champagne purists argue brut nature allows more terroir to show through in the final wine, and we’d agree. SRP: $88
Mionetto Prosecco Rosé NV: As a surprise to many, rosé Prosecco didn’t officially exist until 2020, and it’s come out swinging. Top Prosecco producer Mionetto launched one of the first to hit the U.S. market back in December, and it proves that Glera, the main grape of Prosecco, and Pinot Nero are truly a marriage of great proportions. Pink peach in color and full of red berry and grapefruit flavors, the dry rosé works well with appetizers, fresh seafood, or simply poolside. SRP: $15
Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Brut Rose 2008: Fans of rosé champagne know that Billecart-Salmon makes one of the best nonvintage bottlings on store shelves. So tasting the house’s prestige rosé cuvée is a real treat—especially when the 2008 just came on the market while putting together this list. The rosé is named in honor of the only female founder of the house: Elisabeth Salmon, who created Billecart-Salmon with her husband and brother. If you need more persuasion that it’s a power-packed, female-driven wine, the honorary godmother of the vintage is talented chef Anne-Sophie Pic. The aromas hit you like a bottle of perfume (in a good way), and the voluptuous mouthfeel peels back layers of red fruit, citrus, mineral, spices, and that characteristic Champagne chalk on the finish. SRP: $210
Domaine Carneros Rosé Cuvée de la Pompadour NV: Domaine Carneros is Champagne Taittinger’s California property in Napa Valley, and when you taste the Comtes de Champagne alongside the Cuvée de la Pompadour you can easily see how the two rosés are related. The Cuvée de la Pompadour is flat-out impressive, with much finer bubbles than you often see in California sparkling as well as an extremely low dosage, technically termed extra brut. The dry sparkling wine offers strawberry and raspberry flavors with a creamy mouthfeel and hints of the spice cabinet that makes it a standout pairing with fresh fish on the grill. Plus, all grapes are estate-grown and green certified. SRP: $45
Altaneve Rosé: What says National Rosé Day more than a jeroboam of rosé bubbles? Not much. New York–based David Noto created Altaneve with the idea of sipping it on East Coast beaches in mind, and we’re here for it. His Italian sparkling rosé features floral aromas and wild berry notes on the palate, representative of his blend of 70% Pinot Nero and 30% Glera from the hillsides of northwestern Italy. It’s a total crowd pleaser, which is just another reason to opt for the three-liter bottles. (Don’t forget to Instagram.) SRP: $25
Nyetimber 1086 Prestige Cuvée Rosé 2010: Silky and elegant, Nyetimber’s top-of-the-line vintage rosé proves England knows a thing or two about making sparkling wine. Crafted by husband and wife team Brad Greatrix and Cherie Spriggs, who actually moved to Britain to work at the winery after discovering the sparkling wines by happenstance, the 2010 vintage is the first-ever rosé sparkling wine in the country. There is a strong focus on the long aging on the lees (yeast particles) giving the wine pastry notes alongside its bold cassis flavors. It’s not far from my favorite black currant macaron in spirit, and it’s simply foreshadowing for what we’ll see from West Sussex in the future. SRP: $275
Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé NV: A powerful Champagne, Laurent-Perrier nonvintage rosé captures attention thanks to its makeup of 100% Pinot Noir, a departure from the typical blend with Chardonnay and/or Meunier. That focus on Pinot Noir gives the final wine a very robust body, deep pink hue, and burst of fruit flavors while remaining dry, refined, and balanced on the palate. It stands up to serious food, from foie gras to Indian dishes like butter chicken as well as a classic creamy cheese. SRP: $99
Macari Vineyards Horses 2020: Cabernet Franc grows particularly well in New York’s Long Island wine country, and Macari Vineyards crafts an excellent example of sparkling Cabernet Franc. Its 2020 Horses is new head winemaker Byron Elmendorf’s first vintage with Macari, a bright, juicy, and fresh rosé sparkling wine that just says summer. Made from 100% destemmed Cabernet Franc, Horses sees itself through the traditional method for sparkling wine, but it’s closed with a crown cap for an easy pop at your alfresco picnic. SRP: $28
Ameztoi Rubentis Txakolina 2020: Not quite sparkling wine but not quite still either, Spain’s popular Txakolina style of wine is technically effervescent, with high acidity and low alcohol. Ameztoi invented the style, which closes the tanks to preserve the natural carbonation during fermentation, keeping the wine’s delicate spritz and creamy mousse. Now, the fifth generation of the Basque-based Ameztoi family, Ignacio Ameztoi, continues the tradition by blending two indigenous grapes into the Rubentis rosé Txakolina. The wine is not only a refreshing palate cleanser, thanks to the zippy acidity, but it’s also sustainability farmed and vegan. SRP: $23
