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Louis Roederer "Collection 243" Brut Champagne

Louis Roederer "Collection 243" Brut Champagne

94JS
93DC
93JD
93JM
93VN
92RP
92WS
$59.99

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94

James Suckling

Reviewed June 2022
Dried-lemon, apricot, green-apple, salted-almond, walnut and light caramel notes. Vinous and layered, with small and tight bubbles. Excellent focus and intensity. Based on 2018, with reserve wines going back to 2009.

Professional Reviews

93

Decanter

Review Date: 06/2023
A crystalline and pure nose full of bright lemon, chamomile, green apple and soft honeysuckle. Crisp and dry, with racy acidity and tiny bubbles that lift the palate straight away. Mouthwatering but light and so fine in terms of texture with a chalky, long and softly salty finish. This really makes you want another glass straight away. A perfect aperitif wine still with lots of juice and fruity flavours but crisp and totally refreshing. The majority of this blend comes from the 2018 vintage. (GH)

93

Jeb Dunnuck

Review Date: 11/2022
The NV Champagne Collection 243 Brut is the third release and is based on the 2018 vintage, with the addition of 30% of the perpetual reserve started in 2012 and 10% reserve wine that has been aged in oak. It is ripe and balanced, with yellow flowers, honeycomb, and plum, and it has elegant concentration and underlying tension, precise mousse, and rich salinity, with lingering notes of croissant and delicate smoke. This will be an exciting wine in the range to follow. (AF)

93

Jasper Morris

Review Date: 04/2024
2018 was a warm year in Champagne, following an emerging trend of earlier flowering and harvesting versus the historical norms. The ubiquitous stone fruits present themselves on the nose, but in this edition, there is an extra layer of plummy generosity from the ripeness of the vintage. On the palate, the wine feels more rounded, slightly buttery, and less cool-fruited than the 2017 base. The ripeness does not come at the expense of the framing mineral freshness that is becoming the hallmark of this label; there is still nuanced complexity and lively acidity. Collection 243 shows a more generous Pinot character than previous releases. The warmth of the 2018 growing season suiting the Pinot Noir grape better than the Chardonnay. Certain disgorgements are going through a smoky, reductive phase currently, with a corresponding firmness of fruit. Statistics: 40% Chardonnay, 18% Meunier, and 42% Pinot Noir. 59% 2018 vintage, 31% Perpetual Reserve (2012-2017), and 10% Reserve wines (2012-2017, aged in oak). Disgorged in spring 2022 with a dosage of 8g/l. Drink from 2024-2028.

Staff Reviews

SB
Scott Beckerley

Scott Beckerley

Such a nice flagship wine for Roederer! A rich nose of toasted almond, creme caramel, white and yellow fruits and light coconut. A palate of more creme caramel, yellow fruits, lemon mousse and saline. Something for everyone!

Notes

The new Louis Roederer Brut Collection is numbered as a series, just like Krug Grande Cuvée and Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle, and this is just the 2nd release in 750ml. The wine is composed of 59% of 2018, with 31% coming from a solera-like perpetual reserve that contains the six previous vintages: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. The balance (10%) comes from large oak barrel reserves going back to 2009. The perpetual reserve is always kept at 50/50 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and the final blend is 42% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, and 18% Meunier. The result is a wine that is both more complex and expressive than the Brut Premier that it replaces, but surprisingly also much fresher. The dosage has been dropped to around 8g/L and the balance is perfect. Only 26% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation because of the ripeness of the 2018 harvest. By adding the collection number to the founding date of the house, 1776, you get the year that it was bottled. If you subtract one from that number, you get the base vintage, for this second release it is 2018. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer)

Details

TypeSparkling Wine
OriginChampagne, France
Bottle Size750 mL
Alcohol Content12%
SKU1645163