Louis Roederer Champagne 246 NV 750ml
The Wine
The Collection series has opened a new chapter in Champagne’s illustrious history, and you can expect the other major houses to follow suit shortly. Responding to climate change, Louis Roederer has ceased production of its best-selling Brut Premier NV, replacing it with this new multi-vintage cuvée. When Brut Premier NV was first released in 1986, Louis Roederer was pressing for larger yields in a much cooler climate, when it was much harder to ripen grapes. Now that the globe is warming and there’s a shift towards more sustainable farming, they are “chasing freshness” and “the future will be organic and biodynamic”, according to Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Cellar Master and Executive Vice President at Louis Roederer. So, gone is the tight, focused and nervy Brut Premier NV, replaced by a more expressive, more complex and more spicy modern style.
These come from young plots on the Cristal estate and the large French oak vats add more spice to the wine, rather like seasoning a dish. Secondly, the house established a Perpetual Reserve – an approach also employed by respected Grower Champagne houses, like Bérêche & Fils and Jacques Selosse. The Perpetual Reserve is a vast stainless-steel tank containing reductively aged (oxygen-free) older vintages that is continually topped up in the same way that Sherry producers use their solera system. Most producers will keep vintages separately in smaller tanks, where they lose freshness. This approach maintains the freshness, adding a chalky and saline character. And finally, the dosage (the sweetness added at the end to balance the wine) has been reduced, as the ripeness is already present.
93 Pts Antonio Galloni, Vinous 'The NV Brut Collection 246 is positively stellar. It’s a terrific example of where Roederer is going with this cuvée stylistically. Brisk saline notes cut through a core of orchard fruit, mint, white pepper and slate. There are no hard angles or awkward contours. The 246 is based on 2021, an extremely tricky vintage for Champagne. Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon bumped up the percentage of Chardonnay considerably and focused on Pinots from the Montagne de Reims. About 30% of the lots underwent malolactic fermentation to soften the edges. Twenty-four percent of the wines were fermented in oak, the rest in tank. The 246 is a blend of 55% base 2021 vintage wines described above, plus 30% perpetual reserve going back to 2012 (mostly from Cumières, Vertus and Verzy) in tank and 10% young-vine juice from Cristal plots aged in cask. The final blend is 54% Chardonnay (as opposed to the more typical 44%), 35% Pinot Noir and 11% Meunier. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. More importantly, the 246 is impeccably done and absolutely delicious. Drink 2025-2035.'
The Details
Variety - Chardonnay
Country - France
Region - Champagne
Vintage - NV
Extra - Cork
Volume - 750ml
About the Wine Maker 
One of the last great independent, family-run Champagne houses.
Founded in 1776, it became legendary under the leadership of Louis Roederer himself in 1833. While most houses at the time bought grapes from various farmers, Roederer was a visionary who decided to buy the land instead. Today, they own over 240 hectares of prime vineyards, allowing them to control the quality of their wine from the soil to the bottle.
