2015 Louis Roederer Brut Champagne

A bright, chalky Champagne, finely balanced and appealing, with a range of nectarine and strawberry fruit flavors, plus notes of almond biscotti, pink grapefruit pith and elderflower. Packs a vivacious mousse that dances a foxtrot on the palate, carrying the flavors on the racy, lingering finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Louis Roederer’s beautiful 2015 Brut Millésime is crafted this year from a blend of seventy percent pinot noir and thirty percent chardonnay. All of the pinot noir hails from the cool Montagne de Reims grand cru village of Verzy and the chardonnay from the excellent Côte des Blancs village of Chouilly. One-third of the vins clairs were barrel-fermented and raised in oak barrels, with the remainder done in stainless steel. One quarter of the still wines went through malolactic fermentation and the wine was given at least five years aging on its fine lees prior to disgorgement and a finishing dosage of eight grams per liter. The wine nicely shows its pinot noir pedigree on the nose, wafting from the glass in a complex blend of white peach, apple, chalky minerality, fresh-baked bread, dried flowers and incipient notes of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a beautiful core of fruit, excellent mineral undertow and grip, elegant mousse and excellent length on the poised, complex and impeccably balanced finish. Fine, fine juice. (JG) 93+