2018 Louis Roederer: converging on Cristal

Classy Champagne from a fabulous vintage

'Few houses produce Champagnes as consistently high in quality and stylish in character as Louis Roederer.' — Peter Liem, champagneguide.net.

Vineyards are Louis Roederer's greatest asset. 70% of the grapes it uses come from its own vineyards, unprecedented for a Champagne house of its size. All vintage releases are made exclusively from Roederer’s own fruit, mostly from vineyards bought in the nineteenth century. 'If I didn't perfectly control the vineyards,' says cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, 'I wouldn’t be able to deliver the best possible quality'.

2018 was a fabulous Champagne vintage, providing a bountiful harvest of ripe fruit, and 2018 Louis Roederer is lovely: it marries tangy red fruit with blood orange freshness and creamier notes of brioche and caramel. Incorporating 20% Chardonnay, it also marks the end of an era. Jean-Baptiste notes that despite the north-facing slopes of Verzy, Pinot Noir now achieves such phenolic ripeness there that there's no longer any need to add Chardonnay. Going forward, he envisages vintage Roederer being made as a Blanc de Noirs cuvée. Which almost seems a shame when you consider how good (and how balanced) 2018 Louis Roederer is.

Jean-Baptiste is not a man to sit still, and he's always had one eye on the future. Since he became cellar master in 1999, Roederer has led a charge into sustainable viticulture, becoming the largest organic and biodynamic producer in the region. This has fed back into the quality of the Champagne. Roederer has always been good, but it has never been better. Switched-on observers have noticed how in recent years, the quality of Roederer vintage releases has been sharply converging with their prestige cuvée, Cristal. /NT

Offered subject to remaining unsold. Wines available imminently.To place an order, click on the wines below or call 020 7638 5998