NV Louis Roederer - Champagne Brut Collection 246 (750ml)

Louis Roederer traces its history back to 1776, making it one of the oldest and largest family-owned Champagne houses still in independent hands. By the nineteenth century the house had become official supplier to the Russian imperial court under Tsar Nicholas II, an association that led to the creation of Cristal in 1945, one of the first prestige cuvées in Champagne. Owning extensive vineyard holdings across the region allows Roederer's cellar team to select precisely which parcels go into each of its wines.

Collection 246 takes its name from the house's two hundred forty-sixth harvest blend and replaces the previous non-vintage Brut Premier. It combines fruit from the 2021 harvest with a perpetual reserve begun in 2012 and a smaller portion of oak-aged reserve wines from young vines on the Cristal estate. The final blend leans heavily on Chardonnay, rounded out by Pinot Noir and Meunier, with roughly a quarter of the wine fermented in French oak and aged about four years in the cellar before release.

The wine shows aromas of mirabelle plum, nectarine, and candied lemon, layered with toasted, biscuity oak notes and a chalky, saline finish. Serve it with poached lobster or a well-aged Gruyère.