Just over two-thirds pinot noir (Verzenay) and the balance southeast-facing chardonnay from Chouilly. This has 30% of oak fermentation which has compressed the wine, lending it an air of extreme concentration. The nose is gently spicy, offering peaches and cherries as well as neat autolysis edge. The palate has a powerful, long and assertive feel, with peach and lemon pith, chalky minerals, and some grapefruit. A powerful vintage for Roederer.

This beautiful wine, with its poise, elegance and balance, has both a steely mineral core and an outer ripe-fruit character. It has citrus, tight acidity and rich apple and green-plum flavors. The wine is still a little young and will be better from 2019.

Roederer’s white golden 2012 Vintage is a classic Millésime. Based on 70% cool-climate Pinot Noir from Verzy and Verzenay (Montagne de Reims) and 30% Chardonnay from a very warm, south/southwest-facing vineyard in Chouilly (Côte des Blancs), the 2012 represents the mineral terroirs of its origins beautifully—pure, refined and fresh. Fermented 8% in oak and with just 16% of the volume having done malolactic fermentation to make the Roederer Vintage Brut a classic gastronomic wine, the 2012 shows a deep, rich and ripe but also fine, precise and elegant chalky nose with hazelnut, toasted almond and blossom flavors. The palate is profound, round, highly elegant and fresh, and the long, remarkably salty finish is very complex and terribly fresh in its persistent mineral expression. This is an impressive, ripe and almost creamy textured but precise and finessed 2012 with power, body and structure. A true, highly stimulating classic. Just love it! Disgorged in January 2017 after four years of bottle aging (dosage: nine grams per liter). Tasted in Reims in May 2018. - Stephan Reinhardt

Roederer's 2012 vintage Champagne is terrific. It's a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay with a dosage of 9g/l, demonstrating a perfumed and racy bouquet of citrus, pastry, spice, peach and pear. It has a perfectly balanced, vinous palate with a lively and intense freshness supported by finely-judged acidity, ending with an iodine note to the finish.

This mouthwatering version is fine and satiny in texture, featuring citrus peel acidity that frames a well-meshed range of crushed currant, Earl Grey tea and lemon curd flavors, with a rich hint of toasted brioche. The minerally underpinning echoes on the finish. Drink now through 2030. — A.N.

The 2012 Brut Vintage is another beauty. White flowers, ripe orchard fruits, brioche, toasted bread, and a kiss of chalky minerality all flow to a soft, mouthfilling Champagne with outstanding purity and balance. It shows the richer, forward style of the vintage nicely.