2008 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rose, Reims

61% Pinot Noir, mostly from Ambonnay, Bouzy, Ay, Tauxieres-Mutry, Avenay-Val-d'Or, Verzy, Verzenay and Ludes; 34% Chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger and Vertus; 5% Pinot Meunier, mostly from Ludes and Dizy; with 14% red wine from Bouzy; 5% fermented and aged in large oak foudres for the firsts time; 8g/L dosage

It's in Clicquot's red wine facility that I've encountered some of the most transcendental red wines in all of Champagne, but as they're reserved exclusively as rose blending components.I've wished there were some way for the world to experience these enthralling wines. It took a vintage of the beguiling trasnparency of 2008 to provide the window.

Two years after release, it has evolved to a subtly copper shade of salmon, its primary red cherry and red apple fruit and rose petals mirphing into s spectum of spice, tomato, sage and toasted brioche. Bright 2008 acidity and fine, salty chalk mineral structure hold strong amidst the body and presence of pinot noir from some of Champagne's finest crus.

The true mastery of red winemaking in Champagne is tannin texture, and this wine is a case in study in how it's done; so subtly that it does nothing to interrupt the profound chalk minarality of an elegant season, yet simultaneously furnishes the understated grip that promices enduring potential. Charged by a lightining bolt of brilliant acidity, the signature of this classic season, that is a vintage for a long haul.

94 points Tyson Stelzer The Champagne Guide