Louis Roederer Collection 243 Blend (NV) - 3 Litre Bottle

Bright, golden hue with shimmering highlights. Fine, lively mousse with lingering threads of bubbles. The bouquet is open and rich yet also wonderfully fresh. It offers an explosion of ripe, delicate fruit with intense notes of yellow fruit (Mirabelle plum) from the pinot noir complemented by sweet citrus fruits (lemon meringue pie) and delicate notes of white flowers (jasmine) from the chardonnay. The nose opens up to reveal autolytic characters and evolves towards smoky, roasted notes and freshly baked pastries. The palate is deep and dense with a big, well-structured backbone.

The texture is simply mesmerizing with its fleshy mouthfeel from the pinot noir that coats the palate before giving way to an incredible saline freshness with a pleasant hint of bitterness. This wine combines the strength, intensity and power of the delectably ripe pinot noirs which are balanced to perfection by the chalky freshness and density from the chardonnay which forms the majority of the blend.

Dried-lemon, apricot, green-apple, salted-almond, walnut and light caramel notes. Vinous and layered, with small and tight bubbles. Excellent focus and intensity.

It is ripe and balanced, with yellow flowers, honeycomb, and plum, and it has elegant concentration and underlying tension, precise mousse, and rich salinity, with lingering notes of croissant and delicate smoke.

The NV Collection 243 is bright, punchy and wonderfully effusive, the 243 really shows the more vibrant style Roederer is going for with their new entry-level NV bottling. Citrus peel white, flowers, mint, slate and a host of saline notes build nicely. This is impressive, to say the least.