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Bought directly from Louis Roederer's UK agent MMD, this is currently held in bond at London City Bond Eton Park, where it is cellared in ideal conditions and for same day deliveries small quantities are held in our London offices in a top of the range Eurocave
As the largest independent family-managed Champagne producer, Louis Roederer rank amongst the region's absolute finest. Established in 1776, the House today is managed by seventh generation family member Frédéric Rouzaud alongside long-time Chef de Cave and Champagne legend Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon. They own an astounding 242 hectares of vineyards many in chalk rich Grand Cru villages covering two-thirds of their grape requirements. Roederer have become pioneers in biodynamic farming & by 2012 all 78 hectares the “Cristal Estates” are farmed using biodynamic methods. By 2021 Roederer have 115 hectares certified organic. All the grapes in Cristal & other vintage cuvee’s come from their own vineyards. The estate is made up of 410 plots which are fermented separately in one of the 450 stainless steel tanks in their Reims cellars. In 2020 Roederer replaced Brut Premier with “Collection” allowing each years non-vintage blend to be identified and “re-engineering” the non-vintage cuvee to maintain freshness in the light of global warming on the Champagne region. Today Cristal is, widely recognised as the world's most awarded prestige cuvée champagne.
In September 2021 Collection 242 was launched, replacing Brut Premier. The idea behind Collection 242 was to address the impact in champagne of global warming, "fighting for freshness" is how Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon described his mission in creating this new champagne. He set about his task in 2013 building a perpetual reserve, adding into it only those wines that displayed those fresh and minerally characters. He also increased the oak reserves, similar to how we use spices in a kitchen. The end result is the perpetual reserve is the "freshening element" and 34% of the blend, 10% oak reserve wines and 56% from the 2017 harvest. The Collection number represents the number of times they have made a non vintage since the inception of the house in 1776. Here you can find an in depth article about this new cuvee.
Weather 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 spell at the end of August. This sudden change led to a significant increase in grey rot on the ripening Pinot noir and 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 the 31st August to the 9th September 2017.
Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand & Premier Cru | 33% La Riviere | 33% La Montagne | 33% La Cote
Grape Varieties: 36% Pinot Noir, 42% Chardonnay, 22% Meunier
Reserve Wines aged in oak: 10% from 2009, 11, 13, 14, 15 & 16
Perpetual reserve wines: 34% from 2012, 13, 14, 15 & 16
Lees Ageing: 3 years
Current base vintage: 2017
Disgorged: March 2021
Dosage: 8 g/l
Drink: Now for 8+ years
Tasting Note: Fine bubbles and a nose of fresh fruit and hawthorn. The inclusion of reserve wines gives it the complexity and roundness characteristic of Louis Roederer champagnes. Smooth, complex palate mingling flavours of apple and pear with blackberries, raspberries and cherries. This is a structured and elegantly mature wine, lively on the mouth with a smooth palate.
The Gift Set includes 1 bottle of Collection 242 75cl presented with two Jamesse Prestige champagne glasses.
The JAMESSE PRESTIGE collection has been created in partnership with Philippe Jamesse, chef sommelier at the Michelin-starred restaurant - Domaine Les Crayères, Reims.
Champagne Louis Roederer Overview
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As the largest independent family-managed Champagne producer, Louis Roederer rank amongst the region's absolute finest. Established in 1776, the House is currently managed by seventh generation family member Frédéric Rouzaud alongside long-time Chef de Cave and Champagne legend Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon. Today, Champagne Louis Roederer own an astounding 240 hectares of vineyards in the very best locations that cover two-thirds of their grape requirements and are pioneers in biodynamic farming, having converted a total of 50% of its holdings to accommodate production using biodynamic methods. Their portfolio begins with Brut Premier, one of Champagne's most seductive non-vintage cuvées and ends with Cristal, perhaps the world's most recognised prestige cuvée champagne.
Top quality grapes are the cornerstone of Roederer's style and account for their characteristic purity and elegance. Their portfolio begins with Brut Premier, one of Champagne's most seductive non-vintage cuvées and ends with Cristal, perhaps the world's most recognised prestige cuvée champagne. Created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II of Russia, the iconic Cristal is the essence of Roederer, matched only in decadence and luxury by its pink equivalent, Cristal Rosé.
“Aromas of cooked apple, bread dough and lemon tart follow through to a full body with round, delicious fruit and a rich, flavorful finish. Yet, it remains tight and fine with lovely, compressed bubbles. New energy and freshness. Medium-to full-bodied with layers of fruit and vivid intensity. 42% chardonnay, 36% pinot noir and 22% pinot meunier. 8 grams dosage. Four years on the less. A new-format non-vintage that designates the year of the 242nd harvest, 2017, plus reserve wine of 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Drink or hold.”
93+/100
William Kelley
“Roederer's Brut Premier was created in the 1980s to prove to consumers that we could deliver consistent quality with a blend that compensated for less than perfectly ripe vintages," explains Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon. "We were blending in pursuit of maturity, of ripeness. The concept behind the Brut Collection is the opposite: we're looking for freshness—and we are embracing singularity, something we're emphasizing by enumerating each year's blend." This project has been in the making since 2012, when Lecaillon set aside 21,000 liters of wine to constitute a perpetual reserve aged in large tanks without malolactic fermentation. Sourcing has evolved too: less must is coming from cooperatives, and only vineyards cultivated without the use of herbicides inform the blend. A dedicated team oversees all this, visiting every grower three times per year. And vinification is parcel by parcel to deliver a maximum of blending components. Iteration 242 is based on the 2017 vintage (56%), supplemented by 34% reserve wines from the perpetual reserve established in 2012 and 10% foudre-aged reserve wines.
So much for the composition and concept of the new NV Brut Collection 242, but how does it taste? This debut release is very impressive indeed, wafting from the glass with notes of pear, peach, ripe citrus fruit, toasted almonds, fresh pastry and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and textural, it's concentrated and layered, with lively acids, an enlivening pinpoint mousse and a long, sapid finish. Brut Premier was already a very persuasive wine, but the new Brut Collection nevertheless represents a step up.”
92/100
Antonio Galloni
“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.””
17/20
Jancis Robinson MW
“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."”
91 → 92/100
Essi Avellan
“The new climate and era have made Louis Roederer replace its Brut Premier with Collection. The new cuvée’s resilience derives from the “perpetual reserve” (Réserve perpétuelle) of previous vintages. In the challenging 2017 vintage, Chardonnay was made to play an important role. The result is rich with fine depth. It comes with nicely toasted, ripe fruity aroma with vanilla, lemon and hazelnut. The taste is softly lush but fresh and elegantly layered.”
93/100
Anne Krebiehl MW
“The nose is a trio of Mirabelle plum, salted shortbread and freshly-cut yellow apple flesh, suggesting ripest fruit. The palate immediately dials this impression back with vivid briskness and a lovely, salty edge along with the scant bitterness of the pillowy citrus pith you find on thick-skinned pink grapefruit. But there is roundness and generosity at the heart, beautiful depth and lively, fine, brisk mousse. That enticing and rather mouth-watering edge of bitterness re-emerges seductively on the finish.”
It’s picnic season!
Another addition to our gift sets; Louis Roederer Collection 242 + 2 Glasses Set NV
Comes with a bottle of the incredibly fresh Louis Reoderer 242 and two Jamesse Prestige champagne flutes.
A memorable evening at Louis Roederer earlier this year saw us taste the new vintage releases from 2013, preview Cristal 2012 and Cristal Rosé 2012, and sample the upcoming magnum launches from the Cristal Vinothèque programme. This one's not to be missed!
A fascinating article detailing the often too difficult task of discerning information about a specific bottle of non-vintage champagne was recently published by Jancis Robinson MW on her website. She argues in favour of producers making information more available.
Earlier this year, we tasted a range of 2018 vins clairs with winemakers at fifteen different houses in Champagne. Thanks to exceptional weather throughout the year, some have been calling it 'the vintage of the century' and expectations are already sky-high. But just how much potential does 2018 have?
Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon recently presented a fascinating masterclass at 67 Pall Mall entitled 'Fighting for Freshness', in which he explained the challenges facing winemakers as they battle to cope with riper grapes and higher alcohol levels in a warming climate.
Not many are as excited as Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon about 2018s potential, a year he describes as having "the density of 2002 and the precision of 2008." During our visit, we also tasted the latest Cristal Vinothèque's and a mind-blowing pair of Cristal magnums.
Last week's Louis Roederer Cristal Vertical Tasting compared every vintage of Cristal produced this century, from 2000-2009. Guests also tasted the two latest vintages of Cristal Rosé, and Cristal 2006 from both bottle and magnum. Read the full write-up here.
Legendary Chef de Cave Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon took us on a remarkable tour of the 2017 vintage, sharing trials on organic and biodynamic farming. We also tasted a mesmerising range of champagnes, including Cristal Vinothèque 1995.
Our Prestige Cuvée vs Vintage Champagne tasting with Jancis Robinson MW at 67 Pall Mall on Wednesday evening was a roaring success. Read our review, see the results and browse the pictures.
Is there a better way to spend a Sunday evening than dinner with Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon at the Louis Roederer family mansion? We tasted new Cristal 2008 and the exclusive late-release Cristal Vinothèque 1995.
Jancis Robinson MW, accompanied by The Finest Bubble journeyed to Champagne at the end of August to visit nine champagne houses. Read her in depth report.
Last week, the Gold and Silver medal results for the 2017 CSWWC were announced. We discuss the noteworthy winners and exciting future releases entered and highlight the best performing Houses and vintages.
In the first of our Vins Clairs 2016 articles, we recount our visit to Louis Roederer to taste the 2016 base wines. Chef de Cave Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon had a lot to say about both the present and the future...
An experience worthy of sharing, very recently I journeyed to France with Louis Roederer to explore the magnificent vineyards and all things Louis Roederer. Find out more
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