Non-vintage rosé Champagne: Panel tasting results

Tom Hewson, Eugenio Egorov and Victoria Mason MW tasted 82 wines, with 1 Outstanding and 41 Highly Recommended

Non-vintage rosé Champagne: Panel tasting scores

82 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 1

Highly recommended 41

Recommended 38

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their non-vintage rosé Champagnes in any dryness level, from zero dosage up to sweeter demi-sec.

In some ways, non-vintage rosé is the most creative, and perhaps also the most misunderstood, of Champagne styles. Our tasting was a riot of shades and flavours, seeing steely, dry and invigorating wines sitting next to explosive, dark, Pinot-dominant saignée styles (produced by allowing the colour to ‘bleed’ from the skins of red grapes), and everything in between.

‘This can be a confusing category for consumers to navigate,’ noted panellist Victoria Mason MW.

Not only did the judges show a general preference for rosés that included a good dash of Chardonnay in the blend, but the top three wines all came from dedicated Chardonnay specialists. What’s the story?

Scroll down to see notes and scores of the top-scoring wines from our non-vintage rosé Champagne tasting

NV rosé Champagne panel tasting scores

Wines were tasted blind

The judges

Tom Hewson is Champagne correspondent for Decanter and Decanter Premium online, and a DWWA judge. A jazz musician, he writes on sparkling wine more broadly on the Six Atmospheres Substack

Eugenio Egorov is head sommelier at AA five-star The Stafford in London. Born in Ukraine, he began his hospitality career in restaurants in Italy and Florida, USA, before moving to London, where he rose through the ranks as a sommelier at the likes of 45 Park Lane and The Dorchester

Victoria Mason MW is a wine buyer for The Wine Society, covering Champagne as well as Italy and the US. Formerly senior fine wine buyer at Bordeaux Index, she previously worked in retailer Waitrose’s wine buying team