2015 Louis Roederer et Philippe Starck Brut Nature Champagne

The most compelling rendition of this bottling that Roederer has produced to date, the 2015 Brut Nature exhibits inviting aromas of golden orchard fruit, clear honey, dried white flowers and wet stones. Medium to full-bodied, layered and vinous, with a fleshy, concentrated core of fruit, chalky structure and a long, precise finish, it's a Pinot Noir-dominant blend from Cumières that's slightly lower in pressure, making for a more delicate mousse. (WK)

As readers know, I seldom drink Brut Nature bottlings when they are first released, as I prefer to let them soften up their acids with some bottle age. However, the 2015 Philippe Starck bottling from Maison Louis Roederer was the exception, as I thoroughly enjoyed drinking this bottle in its relative youth. The wine is composed in 2015 from a blend of forty-six percent chardonnay, thirty-seven percent pinot noir and seventeen percent pinot meunier, with just under a quarter of the vins clairs barrel-fermented in this vintage. This is a non-malo wine and offers up a superb bouquet of apple, white peach, fresh-baked bread, a lovely base of soil, dried flowers and a nice touch of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is bright, deep and full-bodied, with a lovely core, excellent mineral drive and grip, refined mousse, well-buffered acids and a long, complex and quite stylish finish. Fine, fine juice. 93+