2009 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rose

The 2009 Brut Comtes de Champagne Rosé is a rich, gourmand rendition of this cuvée, bursting with aromas of sweet red plums, buttery pastry, tangerine and baking spices. Full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a broad attack and a layered, enveloping mid-palate that's girdled by ripe acids, it already offers demonstrative drinking. This has turned out brilliantly.

A beautiful color of bronze and orange with some pink at the end. Aromas of dried strawberry and orange peel with orange blossom and other flowers. Medium to full body with a round, creamy texture, very fine bubbles and a lovely, long finish. Plenty of subtle pie-crust and biscuit flavors at the end. Yet it remains so complex. Very vinous. Drink or hold.

Provence rosé, eat your heart out. This wine looks more like a clarete – deep orangey-strawberry pink. It's far from difficult to persuade yourself there are notes of both strawberry and orange in this concentrated, somehow upright wine. Nothing vapid about it, it's clearly a wine that would be extremely happy at a well-laden table. From a pretty ripe vintage, its superior pedigree is clear as it has an intense, sophisticated nose and a bone-dry finish after grabbing the palate and giving it a good scrub. There's no attempt to make a smooth-as-satin wine here. It's out to make an impression, and to prove that champagne really is a wine. The finish is even more adamant than the nose at this point. But I think it's time is now. (JR)