Louis Roederer : Coffret Vintage + 2 Flûtes 2014

Brilliant amber gold. Red dried apple, cassis notes and yellow tropical fruit combine with a touch of nougat and smoked bacon on the nose. Powerful, densely woven on the palate, an exciting interplay of minerality and acidity, with a light toasted savouriness in the background. Long and intense finish. Cool, full-bodied elegance with great ageing potential. Delicious with autumnal cuisine.

smoky, ashy, spicy, wrapped in a fine texture difficult to call it fruity, as the terroir resonates from its soil above all. The palate is fruit-forward, lacy with pulpy whiteness, and the finish swings toward polished grey metal

Roederer’s 2014 Brut Vintage is beautiful, offering up aromas of pear, mirabelle plum, red berries, warm biscuits and smoke. Full-bodied, layered and elegantly muscular, it’s seamless and complete, with terrific mid-palate depth and amplitude. Framed by bright acids and enlivened by a pinpoint mousse, it concludes with a penetrating finish. The blend is 70% Pinot Noir, emphasizing Verzy, and pressure is a touch higher than in its more ethereal Blanc de Blancs counterpart. As I wrote of its 2013 predecessor, this is a wine that puts many prestige cuvées to shame.