French Revolution Recap
For an introduction into the range of Pierre Péters, the NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cuvée de Réserve is the perfect choice. It's based on the incisive 2021 vintage and completed by a 50% component of the perpetual blend, aged in a variety of vessels (stainless steel tanks, large oak casks and concrete). This is the most floral wine in the range, wafting from the glass with aromas of honeysuckle, citrus fruit, acacia and beeswax. Shaped by the high-acid vintage profile, expect a bright, lightly structured Champagne laden with racy acids and a focused finish. It was disgorged in May 2024 with a dosage of six grams per liter.
- Wine Advocate, 91
Based on the 2019 vintage and disgorged with only two grams per liter dosage, PĂ©ters's NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru offers up attractive aromas of sweet stone fruits, freshly baked bread, honeycomb and citrus zest. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and incisive, its unusual concentration and persistence are testimony to the quality of the base vintage.
- Wine Advocate, 91
Disgorged in March 2024 with four grams per liter dosage, based on the 2018 vintage (50%) and complemented by a perpetual reserve component that dates back to 1988, the NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Réserve Oubliée goes through partial malolactic fermentation (as the rest of Péters wines) and is matured for about 18 months in a variety of vessels: large wooden casks, stainless steel tanks and concrete (roughly one-third each) before aging under cork in the bottle. Péters observes, and the wine confirms, that long aging on the lees contributes to an aromatic range of complexity that evokes associations of maturation in barrels. Opening in the glass to reveal notes of baked bread, toasted nuts, vanilla pod and dried fruit, it is harmonious and enveloping, laden with vibrant acidity and marked by lip-puckering salinity. It’s a perfect blanc de blancs for enjoying now, while laying down Les Chétillons in the cellar.
- Wine Advocate, 93
Derived from three old-vine parcels within the same lieu-dit, the 2017 Brut Blanc de Blancs CuvĂ©e SpĂ©ciale Les ChĂ©tillons, disgorged in July 2024 with four grams per liter dosage, is structurally open today, but Rodolphe predicts it will tighten up with more time post disgorgement, as I’m sure it will. Opening in the glass to reveal notes of fresh almond, iodine, clams and citrus fruit, it is flamboyant and charming. Less youthfully austere and more demonstrative than the 2016 vintage rendition, it is Les ChĂ©tillons with a more powerful musculature, balanced by a bright spine of acidity and concluding with a long, saline finish. More mineral-laced than the Les Montjolys of the same year, one will want to consider laying down the bottles as they refine with age. It’s the first release where PĂ©ters decided to extend aging sur lattes for six more months (from six years to six and a half years), followed by a year post-disgorgement, a decision based on tasting.Â
- Wine Advocate, 94+
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, 93+
The 2016 Brut Rosé is charming. Soft and inviting, the 2016 will drink beautifully right out of the gate. Readers will find a beautifully perfumed, gracious Rosé. The 2016 is not the richest or most complex vintage Rosé Roederer has released lately, but it is impeccably balanced and very easy to enjoy for its sensual personality. If I have one critique, is that the dosage feels a bit high. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.
- Vinous Media, 90
