Champagne Louis Roederer - Collection 242 Brut

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

Founded in Reims in 1776, Roederer is still owned by the same family, represented today by Frédéric Rouzaud. In recent years, it has pioneered the gradual conversion of its vast 242-hectare vineyard to organic and biodynamic farming (126 hectares). Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, eminent cellar master and agronomist, never ceases to impress with his intimate knowledge of each plot on the estate and the choices he makes. Cristal exceptionnel cuvée de prestige comes exclusively from vines growing on chalk soils. The vintage wines and the heart of the non-vintage brut, now called Collection, with a number indicating the base year of the blend, still come from chalky but more clayey soils. Wines destined for longer ageing do not undergo malolactic fermentation, which means that the grapes have to be picked at high maturity, often close to 11°. Today's wines are certainly the most remarkable ever produced, including the astonishing coteaux-champenois reds and whites, with the highly confidential cuvées Camille.

Guide Hachette des vins

About the domain :

A house born in Reims in 1776. Louis Roederer became owner in 1833, expanded the business and acquired vineyards. In the 1870s, the house, which delivers 2.5 million bottles, has as its main customer Russia, where Tsar Alexander II asks Louis Roederer to create a prestigious champagne: the famous Cuvée Cristal is launched (1876). With 240 hectares of vineyards (1er cru and grand cru) accounting for 2/3 of its supplies, the company is still run by the descendants of its founders. The latest, Frédéric Rouzaud, now heads a group that owns Champagnes Deutz and numerous prestige crus, from the Médoc to Provence, from Portugal to California.

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

"Roederer's Brut Premier was created in the 1980s to prove to consumers that we could offer consistent quality with a blend that compensated for less than perfectly ripe vintages," explains Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon. "We were blending in search of maturity. The concept of the Collection Brut is the opposite: we seek freshness and embrace singularity, which we emphasize by listing the year of each blend. This project has been in gestation since 2012, when Lecaillon set aside 21,000 liters of wine to create a Réserve Perpétuelle aged in large vats without malolactic fermentation. Sourcing has also evolved: fewer musts come from cooperatives, and only vineyards cultivated without the use of herbicides make up the blend. A dedicated team oversees all this, visiting each producer three times a year. And vinification is done parcel by parcel to deliver a maximum of blending components. Collection 242 is based on the 2017 vintage (56%), complemented by 34% reserve wines from the Réserve Perpétuelle established in 2012 and 10% reserve wines aged in foudre.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the wine:

We're immediately seduced by the precision and m brilliance of the aromas: raspberry, yuzu, pepper... The nose is subtly underlined by a patina due to the time spent in foudres. A superb definition of champagne, refreshing, creamy, with nuanced flavors. With a fine vinous scope, this is a very accomplished brut. A fine example. And finally, by blind taste, we recognize Roederer's brut Collection 242, based on 2017.

About the domain :

This is one of Champagne's finest standard-bearers. This family-run estate boasts a vineyard of 420 plots, 70% of which are classified as Grand Cru, and the majority of which are Pinot Noir. Viticulture is a real priority here, notably through the transition to biodynamic viticulture. Soil cultivation is becoming the norm. Only such an exceptional vineyard can explain the unique level of harmony and concentration in such large volumes. It's no coincidence that the cellar master, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, is not only an oenologist but also an agronomist, like Jean-Claude Rouzaud, who built the current empire of the great Roederer international vineyards. He handed over the reins of the group to his son, Frédéric Rouzaud, current Chairman, at an early age. Here, malolactic fermentation is only partial and random (between 25% and 50%). The juices are worked on their lees in vats and oak barrels, to give them thickness.