A very pretty rosé with dried-strawberry and apple aromas and flavors. Some spiced-pear and iron undertones. Cranberries, too. Full-bodied with precision and tightness. Focused and solid. Fine bubbles and length. Always an excellent rosé. 51% chardonnay, 39% pinot noir and 10% pinot meunier. 6 g/l dosage. Drink now.

A lacy and elegantly styled Rosé Champagne, the NV Champagne Majeur Rosé Brut is always a high proportion of Chardonnay, with it clocking in at 51% of the blend for this vintage, with 10% Meunier and the rest Pinot Noir (6% of which came from Aÿ). Based on the 2019 vintage, it saw the same reduction of dosage as the Majeur Brut, from 7 grams per liter to 6 grams per liter of dosage. On opening, it pours a pale pink-silver color and is fresh with aromas of white peach, fresh rose petals, and fresh strawberry. Medium-bodied on the palate, it offers a delicate mousse, fresh notes of orchard fruit, a delicate, chalky texture, and clean lift on the finish. This is a charming and refreshing style to drink 2023-2033. - Audrey Frick

The current release of non-vintage Ayala Rosé Majeur Brut is a blend of fifty percent chardonnay, forty percent pinot noir and ten percent pinot meunier. The wine was aged three years sur latte and receives a dosage of seven grams per liter. The wine is a pale salmon color and offers up a bright and complex nose of tangerine, woodsmoke, chalky soil tones, a touch of citrus peel, clove-like spices and rye toast. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, crisp and classy, with a good core, fine focus and grip, elegant mousse and fine length on the finish. This is more of a middleweight stylistically, but it is not short on intensity of flavor or complexity and really is a lovely example. Given the date of disgorgement, I am guessing that this is the same cuvée I tasted last year, with the additional year in bottle really allowing the wine to open up nicely. 2016-2030.