Restrained green apple, lemon bush and lime, plus light brioche and chalk. Medium to full body with fine, nicely persistent bubbles and good substance on the mid-palate. Almost biting yet polished at the end, with long, refreshing acidity.

Part of a new collection that’s just reaching the market now, the NV Champagne Collection 245 is based on the 2020 vintage. (The trilogy of vintages in the collection are from the early ripening 2018, which is lighter and fruitier, the 2019, which is richer and more powerful, and the 2020, which is somewhere in between the other two.) The blend of the 245 is 41% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir, and the rest Meunier. It has a reflective straw hue and offers notes of fresh almond, bread dough, and fresh flowers. Medium-bodied on the palate, with a fruity nature, it’s crunchy and fresh in the glass, with a lovely chalky texture, good refinement, a note of fresh nectarine, and a clean finish. Dry, but with a delicate rounded feel and some depth throughout, it opens to show more of its salinity and the delicate reductive smoke that frames the wine with oyster shell-like umami character. It’s approachable now but will age with ease. (AF)

Based on the 2020 vintage, Louis Roederer’s NV Brut Collection 245 is stylistically somewhat comparable to the two previous editions, which were based on the 2018 and 2019 vintages. Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon explains that the personality of the wine will change depending on the base year. By identifying the wine with a number, they do not intend to produce the same profile year in and year out, but rather, they will embrace the singularity of each vintage, accepting the different personalities of the base year. It is complemented by a perpetual reserve initiated in 2012, which is stored in large tanks without lees; the reserve provides balance to the warm years like this, as the perpetual component did not go through malolactic fermentation. While a considerable portion of the fruit comes from Louis Roederer's own estates, for this bottling, the blend incorporates purchased fruit as well, particularly Pinot Meunier, which they do not own. Including approximately 43% Chardonnay, the new Brut Collection offers notes of pear, peach and candied orange zest. On the palate, it is medium to full-bodied, textural and fleshy, laden with vibrant acidity and concluding with a nicely defined, delicately saline finish, even with 7.5 grams per liter dosage. (KK)