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Wine Description
The Story
Fascinated by the aromatic diversity of Pinot noir in Champagne, Louis Roederer uses the structure and power of the Pinot noir grapes from the Montagne de Reims to create its Cuvée Vintage. Exposed to the north-east, the grapes mature more slowly. The character of this great wine intensifies and becomes more refined through ageing in wood and time.
Composed of around 70% Pinot noir and 30% Chardonnay, 30% of which is wine matured in oak tuns, the Vintage cuvée is generally matured on lees for 4 years and left for a minimum of 6 months after dégorgement (disgorging) to attain perfect maturity.
The palate is characteristic of Louis Roederer’s vintages: the attack is ample and dense; a rich and winey fullness is refined by the sweetness, acidity and tight blend of the Pinot noir grapes of Verzenay. The ensemble is perfectly integrated into a subtle texture. Tasting reveals sparkling suggestions of candied fruits, almond paste, toast, white chocolate, and carame
Vintage 2011
Champagne Vintage 2011 / Pinot noir especially stood out this year, while pinot meunier was a ected partly by attacks. The winter came unusually early, in November of the previous year, but a mild late spring still led to a owering in May. The blending wines still have a fairly thin structure and a disturbing tone of bubblegum. Actually, this was one of the few autumns I have been present at harvest. I went around and made unannounced visits here and there. The strongest impression and question mark was actually the huge amount of invasive ladybugs that were caught in the presses and left a nasty, urine-saturated stabbing scent in the press houses. Will this leave an impression? I fail to see it disappear given how strong it was. Apart from that, I will never forget it was 86°F and the autumn sun radiant, when we celebrated with a magnum and reworks into the wee hours in Moulin de Verzenay.
by Richard Juhlin