Champagne Louis Roederer Collection 246 NV - 75cl

Collection 246 is built on the 2021 harvest, and 2021 was — by Roederer's own account — a hard year in Champagne. Frost, then mildew, then rain at the wrong moment. The sort of vintage that would once have produced a thin, apologetic non-vintage blend.

What rescues it is the perpetual reserve. When Roederer retired Brut Premier and replaced it with Collection, the change was structural rather than cosmetic. Just over half of what is in this bottle (55%) is 2021 fruit. Another 35% is drawn from a solera-style reserve started in 2012 and topped up every year since, so every glass carries a little of nine vintages at once. The final tenth is reserve wine aged in oak foudre. The blend runs 54% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 11% Meunier.

That architecture is why this drinks rounder and older than a single difficult year should allow. Mirabelle plum and nectarine on the nose, candied lemon peel, a toasted vanilla edge from the oak-aged fraction, and beneath it a faintly iodine, seashell note. The attack is peach and pollen. Then texture takes over — a fine, creamy bead, chalky salinity through the middle, and a long finish carrying a smoky, roasted quality that comes straight out of the reserve.

It will drink beautifully for the next eight years or so if you want to put a couple away. Most people won't, and that is fine — this was designed to be opened.

How to Serve

Chill to 8–10°C, no colder, or you will mute the whole top end. Pour it into a white wine glass. A narrow flute looks the part and hides everything interesting about this wine.

Where to Drink It

Noble Rot on Lamb's Conduit Street, where nobody will blink if you order champagne with a main course. Bentley's for the oyster bar downstairs. Wiltons on Jermyn Street when the occasion has a jacket on.

Food Pairings

The chalky salinity here wants salt and fat together, so roast chicken with the skin properly crisp is the pairing I would reach for first. Aged Comté works for the same reason.