LOUIS ROEDERER

56% 2017 vintage. 42% Chardonnay, 36% Pinot Noir, 22% Pinot Meunier. 12% oak fermentation with 35% perpetual reserve addition. This captures a flattering portrait of 2017 (even if Roederer do not see this as a traditional 'NV" concept with a base year). Vivid apricot and pale honey richness from the reserves on show, with peach kernel fruit and persistent grapefruit oil intensity. A fragrant blossom/fresh grape note is showing, too. There is such coolness and restraint through gliding mousse, once again removing the need for exaggerated buttery/leesy notes through pure fruit quality and reserve wine intensity. A tapered finish of concentration and poise. Tom Hewson Rating: 93 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Dec 2022)

The NV Collection 242 is a new wine from Roederer that replaces the Brut Premier in the range. The Collection (which now will be numbered by harvest) is a blend of three components: a perpetual reserve done in the classic non-malo Roederer style, reserve wines in oak with a touch of malo, and a base vintage, in this case 2017. That blend results in a NV Champagne that offers lovely richness and resonance, with plenty of yellow orchard fruit and floral character. Whereas Brut Premier was typically a focused, nervy wine that, while consistently excellent, also was not always in line with the Roederer house style, the 242 tastes more like a Roederer Champagne in terms of its complexity. Incidentally, there is no Vintage, Cristal or Cristal Rosé in 2017, so all the best lots went into this bottling. Dosage is 8 grams per liter, so lower than the 9 or so that was typical for recent Brut Premier and much lower than the 12-13 that was once customary. The 242 was also bottled with a bit less sugar than the norm, which results in lower atmospheres of pressure in the bottle and silkier texture.“Brut Premier was created in the late 1970s and 1980s, when we struggled to ripen,” Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon explained. “It was our way of compensating for lack of ripeness in the field and the variability of quality across vintages. Because of climate change, achieving ripeness is not an issue today. Instead, our challenge is maintaining freshness and precision. For that reason, we decided to re-think our NV and start from a place of positive rather than negative selection.” (Originally published in May 2021) Drinking range: 2021 - 2031 Rating: 92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Nov 2021)

New substitute for Brut Premier NV taking its name from Roederer's 242nd harvest with this debut bottling based on 2017 but containing 10% reserve wines aged in oak from 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 plus 34% wine from a perpetual reserve (sort of solera) that has been built up since 2012, for 242 made up of equal parts from every vintage from 2012 to 2016 inclusive. The packaging is extremely similar to that of Brut Premier. Scannable QR code on the back label for more information. Roederer's notes: '2017, the base vintage for Collection 242, was a year of living dangerously! An exceptionally warm and dry winter and spring, but the latter brought severe frosts from 17 to 29 April, setting the sorry record for 12 nights of frost. These were followed by a dull, wet and not particularly hot summer, which ended in an almost tropical (hot and humid) spell at the end of August. This sudden change led to a significant increase in grey rot on the ripening Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. The harvest was fast-paced and completed very quickly, demanding precise and methodical selection work, of an unprecedented level even for Roederer. The harvest took place from 31 August to 9 September 2017. A third each from the Vallée de la Marne, the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims. 42% Chardonnay (the most successful variety in 2017), 36% Pinot Noir, 22% Pinot Meunier. Only 34% went through malo.' Dosage is 8 g/l (whereas Brut Premier used to be 9 g/l).
Deep straw colour and tiny, tiny bead. Really satisfying, complete, beautifully balanced nose with some evolution and richness. A little bit of toastiness and it tastes pretty ripe. Very different indeed from a Brut Zéro champagne! Firm. Some tasters may object to the dosage. But it's a beautiful wine.