{"product_id":"champagne-louis-roederer-collection-245-brut-nv","title":"Champagne Louis Roederer 'Collection 245' Brut NV","description":"\u003cp\u003eChampagne Louis Roederer may be best known for Cristal – but its other Champagnes are not to be slept on. The Collection series is a thrilling entry point, and the 245 edition could very well be the most enticing route in. Roederer launched the Collection series to replace its beloved Brut Premier… as a reimagining of what non-vintage Champagne can be. Looking at this generous 94-point version that can be taken for under $60, it appears it can be quite something special indeed!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCollection 245 is built on the 2020 base vintage, which makes up 55% of the blend. The blend is 41% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, and 24% Pinot Meunier, and rounding things out is 35% from a Perpetual Reserve of vintages spanning 2012 through 2019, plus 10% reserve wines aged in oak from select years going back to 2010, finished with a restrained Brut dosage. This Perpetual Reserve – Roederer's solera-like tank refreshed annually since 2012 – functions as the structural backbone of every Collection, weaving mountains of depth and an ironclad thread of continuity into an otherwise youthful cuvée.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoederer today owns an impressive 240 hectares of vineyards across Champagne's finest villages and has become a pioneer in biodynamic and organic farming – a commitment you can taste in the wine's precision and vibrancy. The Collection series takes its number from the total count of harvests since Louis Roederer was founded in 1776 – so Collection 245 is literally the 245th blend in the house's unbroken lineage. Rather than engineering the same flavor profile year after year, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon designed the Collection to embrace the singularity of each vintage –\u003cem\u003e \"almost a vintage, with more twists,\"\u003c\/em\u003e as he put it. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe glass lifts these almost ethereal scents of citron blossom, lemon tart, and lime leaf, which slowly give way to rising bread dough, fresh ginger, sea spray, and a smudge of crushed coriander seed. On the palate, the wine is so elegantly crafted with intense orchard fruit and mineral layers, finishing with a long and chalky breadth of persistence. Flavors of ripe fresh peach, apricot, white flowers, white pepper, and tangerine oil all collide in the glass, yielding to a more open-knit, inviting style with a chalky, elegant texture and a gloriously refined mousse. This is textural and fleshy, laden with vibrant acidity, and buttoned up with a nicely defined, delicately saline finish. For under $70 (or under $60 when you get 6 or more), this elegant cousin of Cristal gives you every reason to say yes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFOOD PAIRINGS: I began craving a white truffle pizza bianca with this… something about all those juicy orchard fruits, peppery chalk, and buzzy acidity would scream pleasure with a simple truffle-y pie.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"First Bottle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53410716746025,"sku":"1008735","price":69.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0793\/2706\/8457\/files\/Louis_Roederer_SKU_FB_Rack.jpg?v=1786549646","url":"https:\/\/firstbottlewines.com\/products\/champagne-louis-roederer-collection-245-brut-nv","provider":"First Bottle Wines","version":"1.0","type":"link"}