I wanted to take advantage of my two-week stay in Paris to visit some Champagne houses and indulge in my passion for the fizzy liquid. Due to the lack of a car, options were limited to cities reachable by train, Reims and Epernay. I picked up five houses in Reims that I thought were the most interesting to me and took appointments about two months in advance. Only Ruinart did not answer my request. Please note that in each case I was visiting the houses semi-professionally as a journalist, which might have affected the service I received. Also, my visit to Roederer was partly arranged by their Polish importer.

Getting from Paris to Reims on Thursday, April 12^th, proved more difficult than expected due to a SNCF strike on the northern lines, so with some re-scheduling I barely made it to Épernayand had to take a cab all the way up and down the Montagne de Reims to reach Reims itself. Thanks to two French bankers who had the same difficulty, I only paid one third of the rather hefty bill. The trip itself was quite pleasant, with the Champagne vineyards gradually emerging from the morning mist. Right after leaving Épernay, we passed by a Lanson pressing centre, then a huge batch of Moët vineyards on the right-hand side of the N51. I arrived at Roederer just a bit late for my appointment with Martine Charlotte Lorson, the maison’s PR executive and an elegant, energetic lady. We met at a discrete but sumptuous late 18^th-century hôtel particulier in a posh residential quarter of central Reims; this building used to be Roederer’s HQ until recently, when due to the expansion of the company new facilities had to be built a couple of blocks away. Nowadays, the hôtel still serves as offices and reception. I was shown a short video on the maison’s history and we chatted a bit about Roederer’s owner Jean-Claude Rouzaud’s nomination for Decanter’s Man of the Year. Then we drove to the new venue to visit the cellars.

Roederer uses stainless steel tanks to ferment and mature base wines. These are mainly 9,960-liter tanks that contain wine from about 1.5 ha of vines; this allows for keeping different crus separately before the final blending occurs. There are about 240 tanks in all, giving a total yearly production of 2.7 to 3 million bottles. Currently some wines are fermented in 4,000-5,000-liter oak foudres with frequent bâtonnage (see below for details). No malolactic fermentation is usually allowed, though in high-acid vintages some malo is practised (as was the case with a part of 1996 Pinot Noir). Roederer currently owns about 200 ha. of vineyards, which makes up about two thirds of the production (this is a very high percentage); the rest of the grapes are purchased from about 30 contracted growers. After fermention in tanks the different crus are blended in a special tank, bottled and injected with the liqueur de tirage mixture of wine, yeasts and sugar. Roederer uses 100% cane sugar. Starting with 2000, the house will be processing secondary fermentation in half-bottles, bottles, magnums and jeroboams according to a new law passed for the AOC. The non-vintage blends mature an average of four years, of which three and a half sur lie and six months after disgorgement (as opposed to the legal minimum of 12 and 15 months respectively), while the vintage wines mature for a minimum of five to six years. At this stage bottles are closed by metal caps, only Jeroboams and Methusalahs have corks (due to size). The Roederer cellars stock about six million bottles in three underground levels.

The liqueurs de dosage and reserve wines now mature in Limousin oak barrels. The liqueurs are composed of 7-8 best crus, all classified at 100%, and mature a minimum of four to ten years. The oak barrels are also used to mature separate crus for a part of the non-vintage Brut Premier for two to five years. This wine is composed of wines from the latest vintage plus 5 to 15% of reserve wines from usually three past vintages. The foudres are used until they are about 60 years old, whilst those currently used for ageing wines are mostly 11 years old, and those used for fermentation are 3 years old. The fermentation of all wines occurs at a constant temperature of 18^o C, the tank park is air-conditioned to maintain the best conditions possible.

Then we went six meters down to the first level of cellars, where bottles of 1995 Cristal were waiting for disgorgement. This wine is fermented in special transparent lead crystal bottles with a flat bottom and without a punt. Only this wine is still the object of hand remuage, done by four skillful cellar masters who can turn up to 50,000 bottles a day. For other wines mechanical gyropalettes are now being used. Then we went to the house reserve of old wines, which is relatively small due to a serious TCA problem in the past that robbed Roederer of most of its old wines. Still, there are some nice bottles of 1921, 1928 and 1955 left. The cellars stock a total of 12 million bottles at present. We also went on to see the reserve of liqueurs and wines that will be used to compose the liqueur d’expédition, which is the blend of old wine and sugar added to Champagne on disgorgement. The latter operation is done by an impressive, though quite noisy machine which automatically doses the liqueur. About 200 g of pressure is lost in the process, from a total of 6 kg in standard bruts and 4.5 kg in the blanc de blancs. After that the bottles are laid down in the cellar, for a minimum of six months in Roederer’s case, to incorporate the liqueur, after which time they are labelled, ‘dressed’, and shipped.

Enough theory, on to the tasting. We tasted the entire range of 1995 wines. Bottles came from a house reserve and were not labelled.

Blanc de blancs 1995 (disgorged on Oct 25^th, 2000).

Made from Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs, predominantly Avize, Cramant, Mesnil and Chouilly (not sure of the last one). Very pale gold, light greenish hues, very fine mousse. Nose of yeast, light white flowers, minor hazelnut leaf note, some slate. Very citric on the palate, intense and quite vinous, with a creamy, Bourbon vanilla-flavoured mouthfeel. Long lemon juice finish. Develops a smokey note with time. Elegant, complete wine that I liked a lot, and perfectly within the Roederer style, despite the fact that one would not expect a blanc de blancs to be so.

Brut 1995 (disgorged on July 4^th, 2000).

65% Pinot Noir mainly from Aÿ, Cumières, Verzenay and Sillery, 35% Chardonnay. Very dark golden, almost apricotty colour with minor salmon hues. Nose starts with some crème brûlée, a gorgeous Bourbon vanilla note, then shows quite vinous and yeasty at the core. On the palate it has a strong acidic structure, but is also quite round from the oak (10-15% of the base wines mature in large barrels) and full-flavoured. Assertive for a young vintage Champagne, and excellent.

Cristal 1995

50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay. Dosage here is of 11-12 g/l. Only three crus here: Aÿ and Verzenay for the Pinot and Mesnil for the Chard. Pale gold with slight orange hues and a pink rim. Complex nose of dried apricot, rose petals, yeast, some mineral notes. Good full-flavoured texture, seems more in balance than the Brut, quite crisp, but with an evolved honeyed dimension that gives it extra interest. Aromas of acacia honey, orange peel, marzipan, some varnish. Very long, with a limey uplift on the finish. Seems to lack a bit of intensity on the palate, but it is a minor flaw. Superior Champagne.

Brut Rosé 1995

Same grape proportions as the Brut. Coppery, almost salmon in colour, very pale rosé and not much darker than the Brut. Nose of linden flower honey, some melon, old wood and a light strawberry note. Starts quite neutral on the palate with some ruby grapefruit and macerated strawberries. Lighter in texture than other wines, and shorter too. Picks some boiled rice aromas with time in the glass (which I noticed was to an extent the case of all wines here). A rather sober wine, on the soft side and slightly disappointing in the context of the tasting, certainly showing less well than others, but I had the impression it had closed down for some reason.

Cristal Rosé 1995 (disgorged on Sep 14^th, 2000).

Same grape proportions as the Brut Rosé, but other crus here. Less pink, more coppery and evolved colour than the previous wines. Very shy nose that is quite similar in profile to the Cristal, with more orange peel and marzipan, but apparently no red fruit. Strawberry though on the palate, some parsley, a whiff of cognac, and an aggressive mousse. Medium acids, shows a rather evolved character. Medium length. A bit better provided it is given time to breathe in the open bottle, but this struck me as problematic, not as well defined as the Cristal or Vintage Brut. I am obviously grateful for the opportunity to taste this quite rare (not much more than a thousand bottles) and very expensive wine.

After the tasting I was invited by export manager Frédéric Heidsieck to lunch in one of central Reims’ best restaurants. TNs from wines poured with this meal appear in my ‘Miscellaneous wines’ post above. My thanks to the Maison for this interesting visit and the opportunity to taste through their range of recent releases. Roederer aims at the image of a high-end, exclusive Champagne house and the wines reflect that with their airy elegance and grace. I would dare to say that their style is a combination of subtle power and vinosity with this elegance and an aristocratic touch of class. The wines have balance, intensity and complexity, the 1995s also seem to have an integration of flavours that makes them quite enjoyable to drink now, while the acidic structure guarantees at least medium-term ageing. While they lack the power of Krug or Bollinger, Roederer wines seem to display a refinement and airiness that are I think quite unique.

The wine that I found particularly convincing is the Vintage Brut, which is IMHO a perfect embodiment of the Roederer style, coupled with the powerful and balanced character of the vintage. Also very good was the Blanc de blancs; both these wines seemed quite assertive at this stage and the BdB is probably mature, while the Brut has some life ahead. The Cristal is patently an excellent Champagne, superior IMO to the 1993, if for the moment young and closed; I think it needs a year or two before really integrating its component parts. The rosés, which as mentioned are very pale and white-like in style, do not seem to me to have a very distinct personality of their own; this is especially true of the Brut Rosé. The Cristal Rosé is as subtle and elegant as the white Cristal, in a slightly different, IMO more delicate and perfumed register, and it too needs patience before showing its real potential. At under 300 F / $40, the Vintage Brut would be my preferred buy for the moment.

The Pommery estate extends over a large patch of land in the southern part of Reims, called the Butte Sainte-Nicaise. Pommery is the only Champagne house to own vineyards (19 ha) in the city itself.

I was greeted by the maison’s main oenologue Thierry Gasco.

The house currently owns 300 ha of vineyards in the AOC, which makes up for c. 35% of its needs. The balance of grapes is purchased from contracted growers. Thierry Gasco used a detailed map of the region to explain the specific zones from which he buys grapes: Bar-sur-Seine, Côte de Sézanne, Nogent-l’Abbesse etc. These crus are needed for balance in the Brut Royal, providing Pinot Meunier useful for its fruitiness. Of the proprietor vineyards, 60 ha lie around Aÿ and smaller patches are located in Avize and Cramant. The basic Brut Royal reflects the entire palette of crus, both owned and purchased, while the vintage wines are made exclusively with grapes from Pommery’s vineyards.

The Brut Royal NV is a blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier and at least 35% Chardonnay, with the latter’s proportion sometimes much higher (as will be the case with 2000 wines, says Mr Gasco). He defines the house style as marked mostly by ‘elegance and finesse’, adding that ‘Pinot Noir should not dominate the blend, it is rather a support’. We proceeded to taste the latest Brut Royal, elaborated predominantly with wines from 1997, with about 30% of reserve wines from 1996, 1995, and a smaller proportion of 1994 and 1993. The 1996 and 1995 reserve wines matured un-blended (separate crus) in steel tanks. The Brut Royal is produced in 5 million bottles a year, while Pommery’s total production is of 6 to 6.5 million. The Brut Royal ages an average of 2.5 years sur lie, followed by 3 months in bottle before release. The wine sees a dosage of 10 g/liter; Pommery uses beetroot sugar since ‘there is absolutely no difference between cane sugar and beetroot sugar for the Champagne’. The sugar is mixed with grand cru Chardonnay wine from Avize, selected for its freshness in order to make the liqueur ‘as pure as possible’, says Mr Gasco. ‘There’s no secret about the liqueur, it should be a discrete support and above all should not be allowed to dominate the wine’s flavours’.

Brut Royal NV

Pale gold. Nose of yeast, green apple, some red flowers (tulips), a fig leaf note emerging with time. Balanced fruitiness on the palate with green apple again and a quite sensible dosage. A wine that is rather neutral on the palate, on the soft side, and showing some cat pee funk with time in the glass. Medium-short, with a citric finish quite marked by Chardonnay. I remarked that the house style, with its softness, a certain vegetal character, and a rather elegant, featherlight general feel, seemed to be ideally suited to a blanc de blancs, but Mr Gasco answered it is not necessarily so. What he seeks to achieve is balance; the Chardonnay can shine if given the proper structure by both Pinots. When he does make a blanc de blancs (see below for a TN), he must find Chardonnay fruit with stronger flavours and more body, otherwise the wine would not have the proper balance. This is also why he needs a diversity of crus to be able to call for Chardonnay or Pinot with specific characteristics, depending on what is needed in a given wine.

Brut 1995

A blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir from grand cru vineyards only: Avize, Cramant and Oger for the former, Aÿ, Bouzy, Verzenay and Sillery for the latter.

Darker colour than the Brut Royal, also with more green shades. Yeasty nose of autolysis, quite vinous at the first whiff, less obviously green than the preceding wine, opening on some white flowers, toasted bread, brioche, pear, and a whiff of vanilla. Creamy texture in mouth, quite rich, with a less aggressive mousse and green apple aromas especially on the finish. The main point of interest here is the texture. Slight cognac emerging with time. This wine seemed to improve quite considerably in the glass. Dry (dosage of 8 g/l) and quite good. For Thierry Gasco 1995 was ‘an excellent vintage’, certainly superior to 1996 and one that he would put at least as high as 1990. I understand this is because 1995 was quite successful for the earlier-ripening Chardonnay, which seems to suit the Pommery style. 1996 saw better Pinots and that vintage might be better for more vinous and powerful Champagnes.

Louise 1989 (disgorged April 2000)

A blend of only three crus, Avize and Cramant for the 60% Chardonnay and Aÿ for the 40% Pinot Noir. The production volume of this cuvée de prestige is confidential, but it is obviously limited. Darker than the 1995, with some rosey hues at rim and a dark golden core. Nose of praline, brioche, toasted bread, smoked salmon, with a very nice strawberry liqueur note. On the palate there are aromas of fig leaf, fresh plum, praline, some gingerbread, with vanilla, smoke and cognac after some time. Quite crisp on the palate, not exactly silky at this stage, with a rather rectangular structure. A very minor touch of dilution on the finish. A complex, delicious Champagne, and quite spectacular for a 1989, which in my experience are already quite evolved and secondary. This was fresh and brilliant, and has I think 5 or 10 more years ahead. Very nice indeed. Dosage of 6 g/l, ‘the cuvée de prestige with the least dosage’, says Mr Gasco.

Then I was taken over by a young lady from the PR department and was given a tour of the holdings. Anyone who has been to Reims will probably remember the rather incongruous view of Pommery buildings; they were built between 1868 and 1878 as an ‘English castle’, but look more like a Disneyland manor to me. There is however an impressive tank park with 120-140 hl cuves for fermentation and ageing of the crus, and enormous 3000 hl tanks for blending. The tanks currently used date from 1989. Wines undergo secondary fermentation in the cellars under the main building. There is a huge oak foudre decorated by Gallet in the main lobby (750 hl capacity), but nowadays no wood is used anymore at Pommery’s. The most impressive part of the Pommery estate is situated at 30 m below ground and accessible through a 116-step staircase. Here wines mature in the beautiful Roman crayères. The Pommery house currently owns more than a half of this underground system, which was used for building material in Roman times. At the time of my visit huge portions of the cellars were not visitable due to flooding, and everywhere there were signs of huge humidity and water dripping from the ceilings. The Pommery cellars are divided into several huge chambers, quite beautifully decorated with bas-reliefs, some of which are by Gallet himself. There are also long corridors named after cities where Pommery Champagne was exported in the 1880s. One of the first corridors to be so named was the Liverpool; in the Manchester section there are Salmanazars of the Brut Royal. Over 24 million bottles are currently in stock here. Finally I was shown the trésor, or several small chambers with bottles of old vintages still maturing sur lie. For those interested, there is one bottle left of the first-ever brut Champagne, the 1874; also one bottle from 1898, 11 bottles and 2 magnums from 1904, 17 magnums from 1943 etc. Some of these can still be disgorged to order.

At the end of my visit I was given a bottle of the Blanc de Blancs as a reminder of my discussion with Thierry Gasco. I opened it a couple of days later at my sister’s place in Paris, to go with some oysters:

Pommery Blanc de Blancs Summertime NV

Quite dark straw with serious green. Soft and elegant nose of white flowers, lemon juice, some green apple and gooseberry, almost no yeastiness. Good mouthfeel with lots of lemon juice on the palate, an after-taste of lettuce or green peas. Not too long. Well-made basic Champagne.