Jean Luc Joillot Cremant de Bourgogne ROSE NV

Jean Luc Joillot Cremant de Bourgogne ROSE NV

100% Pinot Noir
6g/L dosage
Only about 200 cases are produced, with just a few cases imported here to the US.

I prefer the rose over the blanc, but that's just me.  The biggest difference to me is it carries more weight than the blanc.  I tasted this a few weeks ago  to refresh my memory and it is just as outstanding as I remember.  This is a no-brainer for champagne fans that don't want to plunk down 2 to 3 times more for Champagne.  Make no bones about it, this will easily sit on the table on a Friday or Saturday and hold its own with rose champagne.  This is  one of the best rose champagne method wines I have ever had outside of champagne.

We are talking rose done right here, using 100% Pinot Noir pressed juice, not run-off saignee or blended in still red wine, or cut with any Chardonnay or Meunier.  The first alcoholic fermentation, before the bubbles are created by the secondary fermentation in the bottle, gives a base of about 10.5%. The second fermentation and the tirage which creates the bubbles starts the year after harvest.  Aging on lees in bottles for 9 months minimum, sometimes up to 4 years. Dosage at 6g/liter on average.