94 Points - James Suckling
"Aromas of cooked apple, bread dough and lemon tart follow through to a full body with round, delicious fruit and a rich, flavorful finish. Yet, it remains tight and fine with lovely, compressed bubbles. New energy and freshness. Medium-to full-bodied with layers of fruit and vivid intensity."

93 Points - Decanter
"Softly shimmering straw gold, green tints, with a delicate filigree dancing at will around the glass. The nose is gently authoritative; spring flowers garlanding stone fruit, a hint of hawthorn maybe, then lemongrass. The palate has encyclopaedic depth, the intricacies of the Perpetual Reserve weaving their early magic; almond, sloe, gingerbread and apples; the finish has a pleasing twist of bitterness, courtesy of the small percentage of oak-aged reserve wine."

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"This debut release is very impressive indeed, wafting from the glass with notes of pear, peach, ripe citrus fruit, toasted almonds, fresh pastry and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and textural, it's concentrated and layered, with lively acids, an enlivening pinpoint mousse and a long, sapid finish. Brut Premier was already a very persuasive wine, but the new Brut Collection nevertheless represents a step up. "

92 Points - Vinous
"Whereas Brut Premier was typically a focused, nervy wine that, while consistently excellent, also was not always in line with the Roederer house style, the 242 tastes more like a Roederer Champagne in terms of its complexity. Incidentally, there is no Vintage, Cristal or Cristal Rosé in 2017, so all the best lots went into this bottling. Dosage is 8 grams per liter, so lower than the 9 or so that was typical for recent Brut Premier and much lower than the 12-13 that was once customary. The 242 was also bottled with a bit less sugar than the norm, which results in lower atmospheres of pressure in the bottle and silkier texture. (AG)"

92 Points - Wine Spectator
"A bright, harmonious Champagne, layering well-cut acidity and a chalky underpinning with flavors of white cherry, crunchy pineapple, green almond and beeswax. The finely detailed mousse carries hints of saffron and spring blossom on the lingering finish. (AN) "

Vintage Champagne in disguise?....

Louis Roederer has ditched its best-selling Brut Premier NV cuvée and replaced it with the new Louis Roederer Collection 242, a multi-vintage blend that uses both a string of reserve wines and a high proportion of a solera-style Perpetual Reserve.

Louis Roederer Collection 242 unique is that in 2012 he started a perpetual reserve of half Pinot Noir, half Chardonnay and added equal amounts of this 50/50 mix in the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 harvests. He calls it a réserve perpetuelle which is not original in itself – Jacques Selosse and Henriot are two producers that use one – but using it alongside other reserve wines is new. With each new Collection roughly one third of the blend will be made up by réserve perpetuelle, the bulk will be made up of the most recent harvest (2017 in this case) and about 10% of oak-aged reserve wines.

The number chosen for the inaugural Collection – 242 – is the number of vintages since the House was founded in 1776, up to 2017, the base vintage of the new cuvée. The dosage has also gone down – from 9 gms/l in the Brut Premier to 8 gms/l

Medium gold, the nose shows sumptuously ripe, autumnal orchard fruit – pears, apple, yellow plum – with some complexity too, baked apples with sultanas and cooking spice, fresh-shelled noisettes. There is some breadth to the fruit on the palate, underpinned by a firm backbone of acidity, and a lovely balance, texture too, which will give it form on the dinner table and not just as an aperitif.

Super cool and brand new into NZ!!!