Top rosé Champagne to try

75% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir. The 2021 edition of this powerful rosé Champagne has a complex nose with notes of shiitake, preserved cherry and citrus peel. The palate is multilayered with freshness and nicely integrated oxidation, and the finish is mushroomy and chalky. Nominated by Elizabeth Gabay MW

With its compelling notes of black cherry, citrus including grapefruit, spice and pastry, this has an alluring, even bewitching bouquet of striking complexity. The mouthfeel is just as captivating with its seductive, fleshy texture sustained by a dense yet perfectly balanced structure. The saline finish is sumptuous. This is a rosé Champagne that should age beautifully.

A small red wine addition creates this cuvée, which is an equal split between grand cru Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, fermented entirely in small oak barrels and aged on the lees for over 10 years. The long lees ageing and barrel work imbues highly expressive richness of oyster cream, cocoa and allspice, while blackberry and charred grapefruit notes are still present, a reminder of youthfulness. The Pinot Noir has softened into dried hibiscus and red plum, autumnal and complex, but still adds a little flesh to the highly concentrated, firm 2008 palate. Released at a peak of evolution, this will be at its most vibrant within three years of disgorgement.

With a 13% red wine addition, this is slightly less vinous than the 2006 (which saw 20%), yet still lays closer to this bold, sunny vintage than the nervier 2008 release. It’s a Dom Pérignon rosé in full stride today, showing a beautiful maturing Pinot Noir savour of dried strawberry and black tea starting to evolve over fresher notions of cooked citrus, mandarin and pomegranate. There’s a flowing ease here, the mousse ultra fine and the drama of the red Pinot Noir settled beautifully.

After a worrying start to the 2012 growing season, a warm summer resulted in good ripeness come harvest. The blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay is all from premier cru and grand cru sites in the southern Montagne de Reims, in Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Avenay-Val-d’Or and Mutigny. Dosage was at 7g/L, and the finished wine was matured in bottle for at least eight years prior to release. Peter Liem: A sophisticated nose shows the elegance and dimensional depth that long lees ageing can bring. On the palate, textural richness and energy. This is delicious now but will increase in character and complexity. Alan Bednarski: Pinot Noir leads with ripe red cherry and blueberry mixed with liquorice, dried red petals and subtle ripe quince. Expressive with all-round appeal. Claire Thevenot MS: Lees ageing brings savouriness and power here. This is still on the young side and has a long life ahead.

This thrives on its intensity of fruit, feeling relatively elegant in body yet deep in aroma and flavour. While its dark, almost gamey fruit tones show a hint of dried fruit or fruit skins, like plum or cherry, it remains lively and light on its feet, appearing fresh and vital. It finishes with impeccable balance and harmony, persisting with fine, chalk-driven length, indicating much more to come with further ageing. Disgorged: March 2022.

The amber-golden colour of the wine is flecked with pink and the nose opens with notions of rosehip tisane and dried raspberry leaf. The palate is both super-creamy and brisk, testament to Gosset’s non-malolactic style. Interchanging notions of sourdough and salty shortbread denote the long ageing. While fruit has receded, there is a certain Pinot-driven generosity and ample juiciness. The palate remains absolutely fresh and poised with a very fine mousse and a textural richness that speaks of profound chalk. This has all the makings of a gastronomic Champagne.

A nose full of rose petals with orange skin and berry fruits, not as expressive as some of the other Champagnes in the masterclass but this has a lovely soft, and delicate aromatic profile. Tangy lemon, raspberry, strawberry and orange on the palate with a sea spray, saline finish that is particularly moreish. Fully flavoured, round and complete with mouthwatering acidity, lots of sapidity and an extremely long finish. A lovely combination of both bitter and sour elements giving such complexity and nuance on the palate.

The 2012 vintage is a muscular, vinous rosé despite using more Chardonnay than usual (67%), and less red wine (5%). The colour is an elegant salmon, reasonably light, and the nose shows discreet red berry fruit, floral notes, and the start of some toasty richness. It fills the mouth with a velvety, creamy richness on the palate, yet it is never heavy. Pleasant now, it will certainly open up more with another decade of ageing and should go on for years after that.

This exuberant wine seems contradictory – it has a deep colour and a very vinous texture, yet it is drier and more elegant than one might expect. The texture is rich, but with only 2g/L of dosage, there is enough freshness to sustain the bright red fruit aromas edged with floral notes. The wine is made with 18-20 hours of maceration before being pressed off and finished without the skins. Although it is not noted on the bottle, all the grapes come from the 2018 vintage.

A new and impressive addition to Majestic's Champagne line-up, this rosé represents fantastic value for money at the mix six price. Chanoine Frères has a long history in the region, established in 1730, but it's also been a pioneer, its cellarmaster Isabelle Tellier one of the first women to hold the position in a Champagne house when she was appointed back in 2001. Majority Pinots Noir and Meunier, this elegant and full-bodied Champagne includes 10% of red wine in the blend, from grapes grown mainly in the famous Les Riceys rosé area. It's quite vinous in style, with masses of juicy red berry fruit – wild strawberry and raspberry – and a good backbone. Dosage: 7g/L.

Generous with summer pudding fruit and a keen mousse which fills the mouth with fizz. A touch of sweetness adds style and versatility. Rounded, with strawberry fruit and chirpy acidity. Very drinkable.

Due to the name, this delightful Champagne didn't win Drappier any friends from Les Riceys, yet it is 100% Pinot Noir from that village. The grapes did a semi-carbonic fermentation for 48 hours on the skins – it is similar to a Rosé des Riceys but with bubbles. The mousse is exuberant, almost frothy, with bright red fruit aromas, floral notes, and intriguing hints of earth and smoke. The colour is deep, but the wine is a bone-dry Brut Nature. No reason to age this, but enjoy the crisp, refreshing red fruits in their youth. 2018 base wine.

Despite being composed of 100% Pinot Noir from around the Montagne de Reims, Deutz's rosé is surprisingly delicate in 2013. It’s tight, fine and linear with fragrant raspberry and orange citrus fruit, a touch of almost rosemary-like herbal notes and a reductive smokiness. This will benefit from short-term cellaring.

Offering great value for money at the mix-six price, this rosé is 80% Pinot Noir, mostly from Les Riceys, an area in the Champagne region famous for its high-quality Pinot Noir. The grapes are picked late in the harvest to maximise flavour, and only the first press is used, which is always a sign of quality. The wine spends at least four years on lees in bottle, far beyond the regulatory minimum period. It's quite a serious style of rosé, a mid-salmon pink in hue – the name 'oeil de perdrix' given as the colour – 'eye of the partridge'. In the glass, you'll enjoy the fleshy red berry flavours – strawberry, raspberry and redcurrant – and hint of smoke. Power and elegance, a classy pour. Dosage: 9g/L. Mix-six price: £24.99

De Saint Gall is the flagship brand of the Union Champagne cooperative, makers of this Chardonnay-Pinot Noir rosé and a Tradition Brut NV which have both joined M&S's premium Collection range. With the fresher 2018 vintage as base wine (the Tradition uses 2015), it boasts tart strawberry and crisp red apple, alongside brioche notes on a lean yet creamy palate. Drinking well now but should cellar well for a few years if you like your Champagnes with more toasty complexity.

Bouzy's reputation for beautiful red fruit is even clearer in rosé, although this is heavily tempered by Chardonnay. Red grapefruit and pomegranate fruit are lifted up and pulled tight by citrus and roasted apricots, before a lick of sweet spice and bitter herb completes a snappy, appetising rosé that presents Bouzy's power with some delicacy. 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, based on the 2019 vintage.

From a family estate in the Grand Cru of Bouzy, this has a welcoming bright hue and aroma of raspberries – forward and lifted with lovely tart berry tanginess and rose petal sweetness. The modern, youthful palate (the base vintage is 2017) is similarly inviting and intense, with creamy raspberry richness from 35% reserve wine in the blend.

A perfectly decent rosé Champagne, easy drinking, crisp and fresh. It's made a in a lean and youthful rather than rich and luxurious style, with red apple fruit flavours. It's a pretty pale rose in colour, and a pretty style too. Drink over the next year or two.