This great white Hermitage has terrific concentration and mineral energy on the medium- to full-bodied palate. The aromas of Mirabelle plums and fresh pineapple plus a hint of vanilla occupy the foreground, but behind them is a great stony intensity that powers the extremely long finish. A delicate touch of bitterness completes the compelling picture. From two plots, one at the bottom of Les Bessards with quite deep soil, the other on the highest point of Hermitage with a shallow and stony granitic soil. Drink or hold.

A very satisfying Côtes du Rhône with an an excellent balance of generous red fruit and delicate spicy aromas, with remarkably fine tannins for an entry-level wine. They support the long, velvety finish. A cuvee of 60% grenache, 30% syrah and 10% mourvedre. Drink or hold.

The newly-arrived release of the Louis Roederer “Collection 245” is from the base year of 2020, which comprises fifty-five percent of the blend this year. The remaining forty-five percent of the cuvée this year is split between wines from the solera started by Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon in 2012 for this bottling and which constitute thirty-five percent of the blend. The remaining ten percent made up of reserve wines that the maison has in the cellar for their other non-vintage cuvées. The final cépages ended up being forty-one percent chardonnay, thirty-five percent pinot noir and twenty-four percent pinot meunier. The wine was aged sur lattes for just under four years and finished with a dosage of seven grams per liter. Only twenty-two percent of the vins clairs this year went through malo for the wine. The bouquet is pure, precise and still youthful, offering up scents of apple, fresh apricot, lemon, bread dough, chalky minerality, dried flowers and the first hints of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, mineral-driven and beautifully zesty, with a superb core of fruit, elegant mousse, a lovely spine of acidity and fine focus and balance on the long, complex and elegant finish. This is a beautiful wine and if any other Grandes Marques is making non-vintage Brut at this quality level these days, I am unaware of it! Fine juice. 2025-2055.

Based on the 2020 vintage, Louis Roederer’s NV Brut Collection 245 is stylistically somewhat comparable to the two previous editions, which were based on the 2018 and 2019 vintages. Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon explains that the personality of the wine will change depending on the base year. By identifying the wine with a number, they do not intend to produce the same profile year in and year out, but rather, they will embrace the singularity of each vintage, accepting the different personalities of the base year. It is complemented by a perpetual reserve initiated in 2012, which is stored in large tanks without lees; the reserve provides balance to the warm years like this, as the perpetual component did not go through malolactic fermentation. While a considerable portion of the fruit comes from Louis Roederer's own estates, for this bottling, the blend incorporates purchased fruit as well, particularly Pinot Meunier, which they do not own. Including approximately 43% Chardonnay, the new Brut Collection offers notes of pear, peach and candied orange zest. On the palate, it is medium to full-bodied, textural and fleshy, laden with vibrant acidity and concluding with a nicely defined, delicately saline finish, even with 7.5 grams per liter dosage.

Light in hue, this rosé is round and creamy in feel, featuring light wild berry and white cherry, with smoky mineral undercurrents. Shows flinty, salty depth, with white flowers, fresh-cut chives and herbs adding intrigue to the silky and persistent finish. Grenache and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2028.