This chardonnay grows at a southeast-facing slope, a 1.36-acre parcel farmed by Roederer in the lieu-dit Volibarts, in the Côte des Blancs grand cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. The fruit ferments without added yeasts, after one-third of the lot macerates on the skins, encouraging the saturated flavors of beeswax and honey in the wine. It ages for 16 months on the lees, with 44 percent of the lot in sandstone tanks, the balance equally divided between new barrels and stainless steel. The ripeness of the 2020 vintage comes through in a chardonnay at 12.9 percent alcohol (where else in the world could you make that statement?). Pale chamomile scents infuse the wine's toasty richness, its pedigree apparent in the stamina and flavor depth this displays as it opens over the course of days.

It's not that Coteaux Champenois are more aggressive than great Côte de Nuits pinot noir. In fact, this one is delicate and rose-scented, more Champagne than Burgundy in the earthy complexity of its raspberry-red fruit. Grown at a one-acre parcel in the Charmont lieu-dit, planted by Roederer in 2002, this wine's spontaneous fermentation includes 30 percent of the fruit as whole clusters, finishing at 12.1 percent alcohol; it then spends 16 months in barrels, one-third of them new. The wine's structure drives the flavors in fascinating ways, taking pink-peppercorn spice and washing it over the taste with the same transparency as the wine's color, lending the texture a zesty, scratchy redness, like a very pleasant rash. With a day of air, it only grows more powerful and intense, its red-fruit drive needing cellar time to mellow; Coteaux Champenois of this quality can thrive for decades.

“The 2016 Louis Roederer Brut Rosé is made this vintage from a blend of sixty-two percent pinot noir from Cumières and thirty-eight percent chardonnay from Chouilly. This year, twentyone percent of the vins clairs are raised in barrels, but with only four percent of the blend going through malolactic fermentation. It was finished with a dosage of eight grams per liter. The bouquet is bright and very elegant, wafting from the glass in a mix of tangerine, strawberries, bread dough, a complex base of chalky soil tones, orange zest, rose petals and just a whisper of oak hovering in the background. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and refined, with a lovely core, superb mineral drive, elegant mousse and a very long, precise and impeccably balanced finish. This is a gorgeous wine that is already drinking beautifully, but which will be even better down the road with some bottle age. 2023-2060.”

“Pale and beautiful in its chalk structure under flavors of lemon and grapefruit pith, this is youthfully vibrant and just plain deli-cious: chardonnay from the white chalk of Avize. About a quarter of the base wine aged in oak, a shadow of pale pistachio behind the wine's freshness. What lasts is a clean sense of minerality, a mouthwatering structure that should sustain this for years in the cellar.”

“The latest iteration of Roederer’s nonvintage collection, this is tense with a fine aging character. It has richness and great fruit, a fine line of structure at the end. Drink now.”