Louis Roederer "Brut Premier" Champagne

There are plenty of petrol and yeast components to the cool apple, pear and softly citrus-inflected aromas. There is fine volume to the delicious and solidly complex medium-bodied flavors that possess fine length on the clean and moderately dry finale that comes across as drier than the reported dosage would suggest. Moreover, this is a wine that could be enjoyed now but one that could also easily be held for up to another decade.

This is great Champagne- and perhaps one of the best values for money in any category of wine. Louis Roederer has been pushing quality like few others in the region over the last decade, and no wine shows the heights that they have reached as well as the Brut Premier. With massive investment in organic viticulture, including a massive purchase of 1er vineyards from Leclerc-Briant, a return to plowing in the vineyard instead of chemical treatment and obsession with every detail in the winery they have created something here that has no rival among the big names, especially at this price. The 1/3 of the fruit that they buy comes from growers like Benoit Marguet- so you know they are getting top stuff. While most of my time is spent advocating for single origin Champagnes, this bottle is a great argument for blending and the balance that cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon created here is second to none. This wine has a great brioche nose and plenty of vivacious sparkle. It is a perfect aperitif!