Louis Roederer Brut Vintage 'Late Release' 1997 - 150cl

1997 was not a kind year in Champagne, whatever anyone tells you afterwards. The summer was cold and wet, and ripeness only turned up at the last moment in a warm, sunny September. Vintages rescued that late tend to carry a nervous edge, and Roederer's answer was to leave this one alone for far longer than usual before releasing it.

The house's method shows in the numbers: around 30% of the blend went through malolactic conversion, roughly 9% was fermented in oak, and the dosage sits at 9g/l. That combination — partial malo for roundness, a little wood for breadth, a dosage that would read as sweet on a young wine — is what lets a lean vintage age into something generous rather than skeletal.

It pours mid-gold. The nose is all stone fruit and toast at first, then biscuit, then something closer to farm butter and toasted nuts as it warms. The mousse is still surprisingly lively for a wine of this age, and the palate is richer than the vintage's reputation suggests — concentrated, but dissolving cleanly into a dry, mouthwatering, faintly saline finish. The acidity from that difficult summer is exactly what has kept it upright.

Magnum format has done it further favours. At £705.99 this is collector territory, and what you are paying for is time nobody can sell you twice.

How to Serve

8–10°C in a white-wine glass — a flute hides everything a wine this mature has to say. No decanting. Open it, pour a little, and let the glass do the work over the next twenty minutes.

Where to Drink It

Bentley's, where the oyster bar and a mature Champagne make obvious sense. The Wolseley for a long lunch that doesn't need an occasion attached. Noble Rot if you'd rather be somewhere that will want to talk about the disgorgement date.

Food Pairings

Roast chicken — properly roasted, with the skin crisp and the resting juices poured over. Mature Champagne and roast bird is one of the great pairings and nobody does it often enough. Aged Comté works too.