Louis Roederer’s new release of “Collection 243” non-vintage Brut is only the second in their new series, which I strongly feel is one of the most significant new editions to the firmament of Champagne in many years. It...
Louis Roederer’s new release of “Collection 243” non-vintage Brut is only the second in their new series, which I strongly feel is one of the most significant new editions to the firmament of Champagne in many years. It has taken non-vintage Brut bottlings to a new level and it will be interesting to see if any other Grandes Marques choose to match Maison Roederer’s level of quality for their own non-vintage bottlings in the coming years. The Collection 243 is from the base year of 2018, with fifty-nine percent of the cuvée from this vintage, and also includes thirty-one percent of the solera of reserve wines started in 2012 for this bottling and ten percent oak-aged reserve wines made from younger vines in the Cristal vineyards. The cépages ended up being forty-two percent chardonnay, forty percent pinot noir and eighteen percent pinot meunier, with just under one-third of the vins clairs going through malolactic fermentation. The wine was finished with a dosage of eight grams per liter and offers up a bright and complex bouquet of apple, pear, warm bread, a touch of hazelnut, orange zest, a beautiful base of soil tones, gentle smokiness and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is pure, precise and full-bodied, with a superb core of fruit, elegant mousse, fine backend mineral drive and a very long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. With more than forty percent reserve wines in the blend this year, the Collection 243 is drinking exceptionally well out of the blocks, but has the girdle of acidity to also age long and gracefully. This is very sophisticated non-vintage Brut!