93+/100 Parker, September 2021

"Roederer's Brut Premier was created in the 1980s to prove to consumers that we could deliver consistent quality with a blend that compensatedfor less than perfectly ripe vintages," explains Jean-BaptisteLecaillon. "We were blending in pursuit of maturity, of ripeness. Theconcept behind the Brut Collection is the opposite: we're looking forfreshness—and we are embracing singularity, something we're emphasizingby enumerating each year's blend." This project has been in the makingsince 2012, when Lecaillon set aside 21,000 liters of wine to constitutea perpetual reserve aged in large tanks without malolactic fermentation.Sourcing has evolved too: less must is coming from cooperatives, andonly vineyards cultivated without the use of herbicides inform theblend. A dedicated team oversees all this, visiting every grower threetimes per year. And vinification is parcel by parcel to deliver amaximum of blending components. Iteration 242 is based on the 2017vintage (56%), supplemented by 34% reserve wines from the perpetualreserve established in 2012 and 10% foudre-aged reserve wines. So much for the composition and concept of the new NV Brut Collection 242, but how does it taste? This debut release is very impressiveindeed, wafting from the glass with notes of pear, peach, ripe citrusfruit, toasted almonds, fresh pastry and white flowers. Medium tofull-bodied, pillowy and textural, it's concentrated and layered, withlively acids, an enlivening pinpoint mousse and a long, sapid finish.Brut Premier was already a very persuasive wine, but the new BrutCollection nevertheless represents a step up."