Louis Roederer "Collection 244" Brut NV - 1.5L Magnum -
(Champagne, France) - [JS 94] [WA 93+] [JD 93] [WS 93] [WE 93] [DM 93] [TWI 92]

About this Wine:
"It was a desire for freedom, to take the quality of our multi-vintage blends to an even higher level, that prompted us to take a new course of action and to create Collection, a worthy successor to Brut Premier. Collection is a champagne that is vibrant and contemporary!"
                                                                                                — Frédéric Rouzaud, CEO

This 244th blend from the Louis Roederer Champagne House is based on the finest successes of the 2019 harvest, a year of record-breaking temperatures brought by particularly intense heat waves. Dry and continental and of magnificent maturity, this year gave us wines that were dense and fresh, with a masterful balance, conducive to bringing out the powerful and luscious Collection character in the blend.

All the wines from this harvest were rigorously tasted, plot by plot, before being blended in a complex symphony recreating the perfect picture of the vintage.

Aged for almost 4 years in our cellars, Collection 244 is a wine that has reached great plenitude, borne by the maturity of the year, the freshness of the Perpetual Reserve and the complexity of the oak-aged reserve wines. It is a wonderfully well-balanced champagne with an incredibly luscious power, marking the return of the Meunier grape variety, which adds a fruity, caressing softness to the more structured, saline Pinots noirs and Chardonnays.

Tasting Notes:
Lovely golden yellow, very champagne-like, hue. Dense and steady flow of extremely fine bubbles. Deep, broad bouquet of ripe fruit (wild peaches, william pears) combined with citrus (lemons, blood oranges). The iodized and smoky notes, associated with the autolysis and the ageing in wood, add aromatic freshness. Then come notes of chalk and a hint of reduction, suggesting that the wine will be concentrated and powerful. The entry to the palate is delicious showing a rich and robust texture. We have a very juicy and concentrated sensation as if we were biting into a ripe fruit. The substance is caressingly soft, coating the palate but is then immediately lightened by the delicate bubbles. The length is created by a lovely backbone of chalky freshness. The wine is both delectably rich, with a slightly roasted character, and super fresh thanks to a salivating finish. The smoky notes then take over to underpin a very flavorsome finish. Collection 244 marks the return of the texture of the Meunier from the Marne and the Montagne, which adds a lovely richness to the well-structured and saline Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.

Blend: 41% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir, 26% Meunier

Ratings & Reviews

94 Points - James Suckling:
"The first impression is as invigorating as a sea breeze. I love the interplay of mirabelle, grapefruit and lychee fruit with minty freshness and waxiness from lees contact. And all this is welded to a beautifully proportioned palate with plenty of structure, the acidity bright and the mousse animating. Very salty finish that pulls you back for more. A cuvee of 41% chardonnay, 33% pinot noir and 26% pinot meunier. Of these, 15% fermented in oak and 85% in stainless steel. The final blend contained 36% reserve perpetual and 10% reserve wines of the 2012 - 2018 vintage from oak. The dosage is 7 g/l. Drink or hold." (Jul 2023)

93+ Points - Wine Advocate:
"Based on the 2019 vintage, Roederer's NV Brut Collection 244 is the finest release of the house's reimagined non-vintage Brut to date. Offering up aromas of pear, peach and nectarine mingled with notions of white flowers, beeswax, freshly baked bread and buttery pastry, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and fleshy, with a pretty pinpoint mousse, racy acids and a long, chalky finish. The quality of the base vintage really shines through." – William Kelley (Dec 2023)

93 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"A pale silver/straw hue, the NV Champagne Collection 244 has 2019 as its base, with 42% Chardonnay, 26% Meunier, and the rest Pinot Noir. Expressive on opening, it’s fresh with a beautiful floral perfume and reveals pure notes of red berries, cherry, fresh peach, and a lovely fresh bit of primary fruit. It has a fine and refined mousse, and the palate is supple and inviting. Medium-bodied and elegant, with a ripe core, it has a delicate salinity to balance its freshness and has an attractive, lightly tannic feel while retaining a refined and precise profile. Approachable and fantastic now, it will be exciting to see how this develops over time. It continues to be an exceptional value. Drink 2024-2036. They have dialed the dosage back by a gram from the previous edition to 7 grams per liter of dosage." (Nov 2023)

93 Points - Wine Spectator:
"An elegant Champagne, with bright acidity buoying a well-integrated range of ripe pear and white cherry, almond skin, fleur de sel and apple blossom notes. Fine and seamless, with a lingering, spiced finish. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. Drink now through 2028. 21,722 cases imported." – Alison Napjus (Nov 2023)

93 Points - Wine Enthusiast:
"The latest iteration of Roederer's nonvintage collection, this is tense with a fine aging character. It has richness and great fruit, a fine line of structure at the end. Drink now." - Roger Voss (Dec 2023)

93 Points - Decanter Magazine:
"The powerful, ripe side of 2019 is on shown here, with white peach and mandarin flavours held in place by the toasty, savoury citrus oil snap of the perpetual reserve. Still feels youthful and fragrant with juicy pear, blossom and almond notes. Will show even better with another six months. 41% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir and 26% Meunier. 54% from the 2019 base vintage, with 36% perpetual reserve and 10% reserve wines in oak." – Tom Hewson (Oct 2023)

92 Points - The Wine Independent:
"A discretionary house blend with no specific recipe year to year, the Roederer Collection 244 is 41% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir and 26% Pinot Meunier, with 54% from the 2019 vintage and 34% of perpetual reserve wines started in 2012. Not at all shy, it opens to faint reductive notes that blow off to reveal white peach, lemon curd, raw almonds, verbena blossom and nougat aromas followed by a medium-bodied, roundly textured palate energized by chalky salinity and stimulating acidity with a beautiful kiss of honey on the finish." – Sarah Mayo (Nov 2023)