LOUIS ROEDERER

33% pinot noir, 41% chardonnay, 26% meunier; one-third 'La Rivière, one-third 'La Montagne' and one-third 'La Côte'; 50% estate and 50% purchased fruit from growers; 2019 base vintage (5% vinified in oak); 36% reserve perpetuelle of every vintage from 2012 to 2018; 10% oak-aged reserves from 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018; 35% malolactic fermentation; 7g/L dosage; 70% of production, hence around 2.2 million bottles

2019 was an amazing vintage of magic that represents the ultimate level of Collection and the third phase of the Collection evolution. The dry, continental year broke all previous temperature records in a succession of scorching heatwaves! It was a ripe vintage with high sugar, but with elegance, precision, saltiness and almost a blanc de blancs definition, though we relied heavily on Montagne de Reims pinot noir and meunier for its lower alcohol. Is this result the product of our methods for creating Collection or the harvest? I would say it’s both. To me this is the future of champagne: great fruit, sense of place, sense of vintage, supported by the know-how, the vision and the fantastic tools that we have to face climate change.' - Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon

The freshness and energy of Collection 244 are on grand display and has not diminished one iota since its first release. The magnificent 2019 base was in a more confident place when it first landed than 242 and 243 before it, which both blossomed after an additional year on cork. Do not underestimate 244, and don’t miss a moment of the spectacle set to unravel over the coming months, years and even decades. This is a masterful interplay of primary fruit, with the spicy, honeyed, roast nut layers of substantial reserves and oak fermentation and maturation, energised equally by malic tension and saline chalk minerality, nudged with just the right level of phenolic tension that lends neither graininess nor bitterness. This is not only an exceptional Collection, it is also a grand declaration of the fine-tuned detail of the evolution of Collection and the triumphant achievement of upholding the holy grail of freshness and tension even in such a warm season. Tasted in 2024 Rating: 95 Tyson Stelzer - The Champagne Guide (Jul 2024)