2017, Collection 242, Louis Roederer
Parker 93+ (2021); James Suckling 94 (2021); Vinous 92 (2021); Wine Spectator 92 (2021)
Mix any six bottles and 15% comes off at checkout — no code needed.
At a glance
- Grape
- Chardonnay 42%, Pinot Noir 36%, Pinot Meunier 22%
- Region
- Champagne, France
- Alcohol
- 12.50%
- Body
- Full
- Acidity
- High
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Long (10-20 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Seafood, Salads, Poultry & Pork
Why this wine
Roederer abandoned the idea of a fixed non-vintage blend in favour of numbered releases built on a perpetual reserve, and 242 is one of the earliest. More transparent about what's in it than most houses manage. The thinking drinker's grande marque at a fair price.
Our advantages:
Description
How it tastes
Ripe, sweet fruit with a subtle oak inflection over a luxuriously textured palate, closing lively and fresh. Chardonnay leads at 42%, with Pinot Noir and Meunier filling out the middle.
The producer
Roederer abandoned the fixed non-vintage blend in favour of numbered Collection releases built on a perpetual reserve. This one rests on the difficult 2017 vintage — twelve nights of April frost — carried by 10% oak-aged reserves back to 2009 and a further 34% of perpetual reserve. Dosage 8g/l.
Food and drinking
Good with seafood, salads and poultry & pork. Drinking well now, with a decade or more ahead of it.