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.

The 2013 Cristal Rosé from Louis Roederer is one of the most complete wines to be found in Champagne in this vintage, so utterly pure and precise that I would run the risk of exhausting superlatives trying to express its clarity. Displaying a pale hue, it soars from the glass with a bouquet of kaleidoscopic complexity, featuring notes of tangerine zest, raspberry and rose petals mingling with peeled almonds and spices. Enjoyed from magnum, disgorged in February 2024, the wine’s persistent palate offers a bright, vibrant core of fruit, refined mousse and fine-boned structure, with racy and fresh acidity and a long, chalky finish. “With 2013, I was confident from day one, which was not the case with 2008,” recalls Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, and the result in the glass precludes any argument about it—the 2013 Cristal Rosé is a wine that’s structurally complete, deep and multifaceted, even more spectacular than the white 2013 Cristal. When I asked William Kelley why he gave 99 points to 2013 if he rated the 2008 Cristal Rosé with 100, he for a moment insisted to me that it was the other way around.

A dazzling new edition of this wine, the 2016 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Champagne is a world-class combination of 58% Pinot Noir and 42% Chardonnay. This edition of ‘Cristal’ was given 7G/L dosage. Chalky minerals mark the nose alongside white grapefruit blossom, marzipan, star jasmine and suggestions of kumquat zest that all meld in the glass. The palate is filled with crushed seashells and wet salty stones that combine with rich melon, lemon rind and tangerine zest flavors that combine with suggestions of pastry crust on the palate. Big, round and generous, this exudes class in terms of length, tension and flavor density. A gorgeous wine in its heady youth, enjoy over the next twenty plus years to come. Drink 2025-2045.

Part of a new collection that’s just reaching the market now, the NV Champagne Collection 245 is based on the 2020 vintage. (The trilogy of vintages in the collection are from the early ripening 2018, which is lighter and fruitier, the 2019, which is richer and more powerful, and the 2020, which is somewhere in between the other two.) The blend of the 245 is 41% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir, and the rest Meunier. It has a reflective straw hue and offers notes of fresh almond, bread dough, and fresh flowers. Medium-bodied on the palate, with a fruity nature, it’s crunchy and fresh in the glass, with a lovely chalky texture, good refinement, a note of fresh nectarine, and a clean finish. Dry, but with a delicate rounded feel and some depth throughout, it opens to show more of its salinity and the delicate reductive smoke that frames the wine with oyster shell-like umami character. It’s approachable now but will age with ease.

From a very difficult year, the 2017 Champagne Vintage Rose is co-fermented from a blend made at harvest time. It pours a pristine bright salmon color and shimmers in the glass, offering notes of peaches, fresh berries, white pepper, and Mirabel. The palate has surprisingly good tension and lovely focus. A superb and more gastronomic wine, it has a hint of warmth, but it is more the spice that comes through. Drink 2025-2045.