2006, with its 20% addition of red wine, has always been one of the most boomingly intense renditions of Dom Pérignon Rosé, and today the boldness of that blending decision stands out strikingly successfully. This is an outright festival of Pinot Noir aromatics and complexity in its middle age, explosive with dried cherry, strawberry tart and peach fruit yet beautifully layered with dried bay leaf, roasted citrus, liquorice and brown bread complexity too. What’s amazing is just how energetic this 2006 is today when so many from this vintage are tired and heavy – no doubt this rosé stands as one of the wines of the vintage.

The 2006 Dom Pérignon Rosé is tightly-wound and austere, with notable aromatic presence and tons of raw intensity that just needs time to fully come together. Interestingly, the Rosé is very different in style and feel than the Blanc. Time in the glass coaxes an exotic melange of black cherry, cranberry, mint and crushed rocks, but ultimately, the 2006 is no mood to show all of its cards.

Loads of complexity on offer here, from brioche to dried peaches to strawberries and cream and on to rhubarb fool, pomegranate pastries and bread crumbs. The mousse is wonderfully integrated to the edgy peaches and notes that feather the finest line between oxidation and reduction. Very layered and linear, this is an incredibly long and mind-bending Champagne. Drink now.

The 2006 Dom Pérignon Rosé continues to show very well, unfurling in the glass with aromas of bitter orange, dried white flowers, red berries, toast and woodsmoke. On the palate, it's full-bodied, broad and muscular, with all the phenolic structure and depth that one would expect from a rosé that contains more than 20% still red wine, concluding with a sapid and chalky finish. As I wrote earlier this year, this is a vinous, gastronomic rosé that numbers among the decided successes of the 2006 vintage.

Pale to mid salmon. A definite orange hue. Broad and rose-scented. Really quite extensive on the palate. Very nicely balanced. Lots of fruit and much softer than the 2008 and 2002 Blanc. (JR)