Winemaker Notes
Deep yellow hue with golden and slightly amber tints and vigorous, lively bubbles. The intense Pinot Noir bouquet includes notes of zesty red fruit (redcurrants) and juicy, sun-drenched yellow fruit (mirabelle plums, wild peaches). After aeration, the nose evolves towards the more classic aromas of the Pinot Noirs grown in "La Montagne:" dried fruit and smoky notes combined with a few zesty and spicy aromas (white pepper). The palate is dynamic, concentrated and powerful. The texture is fleshy and vinous with a lovely acidity that incorporates the freshness and concentration of the juice with great ease. The structure is energetic, well honed, firm and almost classic. The fruity aromas gradually give way to sweeter notes of chocolate (cocoa beans) and even delicate roasted notes. The finish reveals concentrated roasted and stewed fruit underpinned by saline, mouthwatering flavors leaving a magnificent final sensation of lightness, generosity and elegance.
Blend: 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A great 2015 vintage champagne! Super-elegant synthesis of pinot noir and chardonnay character with a dazzling interplay of complex red apple, citrus and delicate floral aromas with racy acidity and chalky minerality, that is animating for mind and body. Unusually graceful finish for the vintage. 70% pinot noir from Verzy, the highest point of the Montagne de Reims, that’s also very close to the forest. 30% chardonnay from Chouilly, another rather cool location.
-
Wine & Spirits
In the heat and ripeness of 2015, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon balanced the concentration of chardonnay from Chouilly with the freshness of pinot noir from the northeast-facing slopes of Verzy. He managed that pinot noir from cold soils and a cool climate by allowing a portion of the lot to undergo malolactic conversion, something he hadn't done in the past. (He has increased this focus in subsequent vintages, reporting that Roederer's 2019 Vintage is 100 percent pinot noir from Verzy, as are 2020 and 2022.) The wine has Roederer's hallmark clarity and grace— fresh, fragrant, compelling in its texture that's all about chalk, heady in its savory richness, seeming to invest its inherent energy in the knitting of all its elements into one dynamic moment of grace.
-
Wine Enthusiast
This is a delicious Champagne with its ripe white fruits and softened texture. It is totally mature, the wine balanced and ready.
-
Wine Spectator
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. Drink now through 2030.
Uncompromising Quality
Champagne Louis Roederer was founded in 1776 in Reims, France and is one of the rare family owned companies, which is still managed by the Roederer family. In 1833, Louis Roederer inherited the company from his uncle and renamed the company under his namesake. Under his leadership, the company rapidly grew while remaining true to their philosophy of uncompromising quality. Today, the company is under the helm of Jean-Claude Rouzaud and his son Frédéric who continue to place quality before quantity.
First-Rate Vineyards
Champagne Louis Roederer is one of the only French champagne producers to own nearly 75 percent of the grapes in the most desirable vineyards in the Champagne. The property is located on 450 acres in the finest villages of Montagne de Reims, Côtes des Blancs, and Valleé de la Marne. Each region is selected to produce Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with the elegance needed for perfectly balanced champagne. The Louis Roederer vineyards rate an average 98 percent based on France’s statutory 100-point classification scale.
The reserve wine is then tasted and graded by a team of Roederer specialists. They choose as many as 40 different wines from several lots for the blend. For the final touch, the wine is then added in order to enhance the cuvee and guarantee consistency while retaining the champagne's characteristics.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’