2009 Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne

The 2009 Blanc de Blancs Vintage is mainly from Avize (80%), but chef de cave Jean-Baptiste L̩caillon is aiming for 100% due to the forward pushed ripeness of Chardonnay. The wine offers a deep, intense and very elegant nose of ripe, but nobly discreet Chardonnay on chalk flavors, which are repeated on the palate. Think of white fruits, flowers and blossoms, hazelnuts, brioche and almonds - and you are almost there. The 2009 offers a mouthful of round, rich and very elegant, precisely defined Chardonnay that shows a lovely freshness and purity in the finish. The wine is silky, vinous and very long, and reveals an endless elegance. No malolactic fermentation, but a remarkably chiseled acidity. Except of the Brut Premier and the Carte Blanche (which I did never taste) all Roederer cuv̩es are vintage Champagnes; or to be more precise - terroir-driven mill̩simes... Mind you, though, that not a single cuv̩e of Louis Roederer is of just average quality. At least the difference of quality between the Blanc de Blancs Vintage (currently 2009) or the Vintage (2008) is much smaller compared to the Cristal (2007) than the price might indicate. (SR)