Bubbleheads,
I had the opportunity to try out two sparkling Rosés right next to each other at an LCBO tasting bar, the Chandon Brut Rosé and the Tattigner Prestige Brut Rosé. A perfect way to compare California against Champagne and the winner in my eyes was a bit surprising.
Chandon Brut Rosé – Made with Carneiros, Yountville, and Mount Vedeer fruit, this sparkler is a bright light translucent pink in the glass, has very vibrant aromas of strawberries and watermelon, and has very fruit-forward flavors of fresh strawberries and watermelon juice with a fresh acidity and a fair bit of toasty lees flavor. A fine mousse helps cover a surprisingly light body and somewhat short finish. Still, a very refreshing and tasty sparkling wine.
Tattinger Prestige Brut Rosé – Darker in the glass than the Chandon, it veers away from pink and into crimson. Muted aromas of strawberries and lees. This is not a good opening sign. In the mouth, a far superior mousse and body is completely let down by what to me were very concentrated but muted flavors of strawberry and watermelon that were overwhelmed somewhat by strong lees flavors. The acidity was also lacking compared to the Chandon above. The finish, however, was much stronger and far longer lasting.
Between the two sparklers, a couple of things do stand out for me overall:
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The Chandon was far fruitier and way more refreshing than the Tattinger was and speaks very well of California sparklers. Definitely got a New World sparkler vibe going for it.
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For the price of $90 CDN, I was expecting the Tattinger to be far more impressive than it actually was. The Chateau de Bligny Brut Rosé was far better at half the price. I looked this up on CellarTracker to see if I was off but actually there was pretty much agreement that this was not special and certainly not worth the high price.
