The Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé is a $19.99 Aldi exclusive, 65% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier, and 10% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards across the Champagne region in France.
I imagine when a lot of folks see a store brand twenty buck Champagne they figure that there is no way it can be very good. Most Champagne starts at $35 and goes up and up. And while I have not tasted the Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé yet, we will get to that in a few paragraphs, the Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut was one of my most memorable wines from 2019.
Aldi in Europe, where Aldi South is our Aldi and Aldi North is out Trader Joe’s, is the place to go for value wine. Their own branded wines routinely wine awards. And Aldi has a distribution network that is huge, they cover Europe, the United States, and Australia. In a quick look of the web, the Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé is sold on all three continents.
A store brand has price advantages over retail wine brands. They do not spend money on marketing and advertising which accounts for a large chunk of the price of retail wine. They typically pay the wine producer upfront, cash on delivery, while retail wine producers do not recoup their investment until the wine sells in the store.
Aldi has the ability to sell wine in large numbers and a smaller profit, but large per bottle sales do add up. Wine producers want to sell wine to Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Costco, etc. It is great for cash flow and the store brands often do not compete directly with the wine producers’ own line of wine. Selling to Aldi does not infringe on their own sales.
Champagne is synonymous with quality and Aldi tries hard to be synonymous with value. So combining quality and value, with Aldi offering excellent Champagne at bargain prices, is a great marketing image for Aldi.
This is a Rose’ Champagne which always confuses me. A simple explanation, maybe too simple is Rose’ is red grapes made into wine using White wine techniques. But Champagne is commonly a mix of Red and White wines. There is Champagne using only Chardonnay (Blanc de Blanc) or made with red grapes (Blanc de Noirs). Meaning in turn White Champagne from White grapes and White Champagne from red grapes).
If you simply see the sweetness level on the label in this case Brut or dry not sweet, then both red and white grapes are used in varying percentages. So if red grapes are typically used and the color is still White, then where does Rose; come into play? As far as I can tell the main difference is the color.
There are a couple of ways a Bubbly can become a Rose’ the first is with skin contact with the Red grapes when the grapes are crushed. They pull the skins out when the desired color is achieved. Or after second fermentation after they remove the spent yeast from the bottle they can top the bottle off with a measured amount of Red wine. This is where they also adjust the sugar level.
Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé Tasting Notes
The color is on the amber side of pink and there is a flurry of tiny bubbles. The nose is cherry, citrus, light spice, just a touch of yeasty bread, and ripe plum.
The Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé is very balanced and nice and firm on your palate, It tastes of concentrated cherry, a slap of tangerine, brittle lemon juice, and a short stab of sharp spice.
The mid-palate offers that nutty, salty sensation you get from “on lees’, cranberry, and dried strawberry bits.
The acidity is very well balanced, it allows the flavors to unfold and stay awhile and sets your palate up for the next sip.
The Summary
- The Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé is an excellent Bubbly, do not worry that it does not cost enough, just buy it, drink it, and be happy.
- This Champagne has a density on the palate value-priced Bubbly seldom can duplicate.
- I would like to sneak this $19.99 Aldi Champagne into a Champagne blind tasting, maybe $50 or $60 and under, and see the looks on folks’ faces when they rate the cheapest of the bunch as one of the best.
