Louis Roederer "Brut Premier" Champagne

Louis Roederer "Brut Premier" Champagne SKU #100110

Price: $39.99

JG 92	JS 92	WS 92
RP 91	VN 91	WE 91
W&S 90

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Professional Reviews

John Gilman
92
The new release of Brut Premier is from the base year of 2012 and was disgorged in the spring of 2016, after spending three years aging on its fine lees. The wine is its customary blend of forty percent each of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and twenty percent Pinot Meunier. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a complex and still youthful blend of apple, white peach, gentle leesiness, patissière, lovely soil tones and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, crisp and beautifully balanced, with excellent mid-palate depth, refined mousse, excellent focus and grip and a long, poised and complex finish. This will be even better with some bottle age and is a fine iteration of this consistently excellent cuvée. (Drink between 2017-2037)

(05/2017)
James Suckling
92
Just the right amount of reduction here, holding lemon, white peach, wild cherries and more savory notes of spice and grilled nuts really fresh. The palate delivers punchy impact with impressive build and a nicely honed textural thread. Acidity, as ever, is paramount. Drink now.

(10/2017)
Wine Spectator
92
An elegant Champagne in an aperitif style, with flavors of crushed blackberry, biscuit, spring blossom and Meyer lemon zest riding the finely detailed bead, underscored by a streak of salinity that emerges on the fresh finish. Drink now through 2022. (AN)

(11/2017)
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
91
Based on the 2013 vintage (75%) and complemented with 25% reserve wines going back to 2006, Roederer's NV Brut Premier (2013) has a straw yellow color and offers lovely intensity and finesse on the nose, displaying brioche and honey notes along with ripe white fruit and flowery aromas. Round and fresh on the beautifully balanced palate and with a refreshing citrus flavor in the clear, crisp and pure finish, this is a very elegant, vital and stimulating cuvée made of 35% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay and 28% Pinot Meunier. According to Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, 2013 was a very good vintage for Pinot Noir. '2013 was a late harvest. We picked the grapes only in October,' explained Lécaillon, who used 55% own grapes for the Brut Premier. 'In wet years, the percentage of Meunier is always higher because Meunier doesn't need to be super ripe. I am happy with 9.5% alcohol here because I need the clear and crisp freshness to balance the vinosity of Pinot.' It is the wine of the purchased, less ripe grapes from the Marne Valley that undergoes the process of malolactic fermentation (in total: 40%), Lécaillon said, and he never sends Chardonnay into the second (malolactic) fermentation in order to avoid the butterscotch flavors. To make a long story short: Roederer's NV Brut Premier is a classic aperitif and gastronomic wine that can be served everywhere and anytime. Tasted in Reims in May 2018. (SR)

(06/2018)
Vinous
91
Pale gold. Spice- and mineral-accented orchard and pit fruits on the intensely perfumed nose, with hints of toasty lees and brioche adding complexity. Sappy, penetrating and floral on the palate, offering juicy Meyer lemon, pear and melon flavors braced by a smoky mineral underpinning. Closes spicy and very long, leaving a sexy honeysuckle note behind. (JR)

(01/2015)
Wine Enthusiast
91
The non-vintage blend from this producer is getting marginally drier with tight crisp fruit as well as delicious sliced apple flavors. With a touch of toastiness, this wine shows itself as having some attractive bottle age. It is ready to drink. (RV)

(12/2017)
Wine & Spirits
90
This is the only Roederer blend to include lots that have undergone malolactic conversion, enriching both the wine’s flavor and its heft. Widely available in 750-milliliter bottles, this feels brisk and zesty when poured from a magnum, a cool and juicy Champagne with some flinty smoke in the finish.

(12/2017)

K&L Notes

From the makers of Cristal, this is a rich and toasty-styled Champagne. Roederer grows two-thirds of the fruit for this wine their own extensive 500-acre estate. Their vineyards are spread throughout the Champagne region with holdings in the Côtes de Blancs, Valley of the Marne and Montagne de Reims. The Brut Premier comes only from Grand and Premier cru sites, and does not go through malolactic fermentation.

Staff Reviews

By: William Beare
11/6/2018
K&L Staff Member

A beautiful, textural, classic champagne for all audiences. Plenty of crisp refreshment, balanced by a rich, yeasty undercurrent from long, patient time spent aging on the lees. Organic and biodynamically farmed-- always good to see the big houses set precedent for such trends. Creamy and broad on the palate, with notes of lemon curd, and a pleasant mineral finish.
By: Alex Schroeder
10/12/2018
K&L Staff Member

Roederer takes great care to make sure they are putting the best fruit possible into this entry level nonvintage brut, and the quality is evident at a very reasonable price, considering. Over 55% of the fruit is estate-owned and environmentally consciously grown. It’s full of rich bright white fruits; pear, nectarine, with note of honey, a touch of smoke and toasty lees that can’t be beat. The juice is partially aged in oak tuns, giving added texture and depth. Amongst our Grand Marque Bruts, this is always a favorite.
By: Cameron Price
10/11/2018
K&L Staff Member

The Louis Roederer Brut Premier is as fine a champagne as the next. The nose has succulent golden fruit with hints of fresh toast and the palate exemplifies the perfect balance between richness and freshness. 55% of Roederer’s grapes are estate grown and organic! You’ll be happy to know that all of the Vintage champagne from Roederer are 100% estate grown fruit!
By: Rachel Alcarraz
10/10/2018
K&L Staff Member

I have special memories of the Roederer Brut Champagne. Two years ago on New Years Eve, my friends and I opened a Jeroboam of this lovely wine. We enjoyed the bottle during our flavorful dinner and poured the final glasses out of the bottle just in time to ring in 2017. The richer, toasted brioche character went well with our winter dinner menu but it is also well balanced enough to easily drink on its own.
By: Gary Westby
9/10/2015
K&L Staff Member

This is great Champagne- and perhaps one of the best values for money in any category of wine. Louis Roederer has been pushing quality like few others in the region over the last decade, and no wine shows the heights that they have reached as well as the Brut Premier. With massive investment in organic viticulture, including a massive purchase of 1er vineyards from Leclerc-Briant, a return to plowing in the vineyard instead of chemical treatment and obsession with every detail in the winery they have created something here that has no rival among the big names, especially at this price. The 1/3 of the fruit that they buy comes from growers like Benoit Marguet- so you know they are getting top stuff. While most of my time is spent advocating for single origin Champagnes, this bottle is a great argument for blending and the balance that cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon created here is second to none. This wine has a great brioche nose and plenty of vivacious sparkle. It is a perfect aperitif!
By: Kyle Kurani
11/7/2012
K&L Staff Member

This is my favorite entry tier wine from a big house. The quality is a step above due to careful wine making and a touch of reserve wines in the blend to add depth and nuance to a very affordable bottle of bubbles. Taking a look at my notes going back three testing’s, the most consistent notes that came up again and again were delicate white flowers and spiced pears, these delicate flavors combine with good acidity and a finely textured mouth feel make for a bottle of wine that can be enjoyed by many.
By: Scott Beckerley
11/1/2012
K&L Staff Member

This is one of my favorite Grand Marque houses and this particular champagne has great quality and is also a really good value. Toasty nose, with rich fruit. On the palate, golden apples and cream with a finish of bright, yet subtle, acidity. A really lovely champagne that works well on its own or with a meal.
Top Value!
By: Chiara Shannon
10/25/2012
K&L Staff Member

Made from half estate and half purchased fruit, all 1er and Grand Cru sources, Louis Roederer's Brut Premiere is a sophisticated, elegant Champagne that has minerality, flavor, acidity, and length of the sort you might expect to find in a bottle from one of our small grower-producer DIs as opposed to a "big" house. This can be attributed to the fact that even at this entry level, the wine originates as a vineyard or fruit selection, not a tank selection like other large production houses. This is a superb Champagne and great value. Whether you are a Champagne novice or connoisseur, shopping for a gift or a bottle to open and enjoy yourself, don't overlook this because you recognize the label - this seriously good Champagne is sure to impress.

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