Louis Roederer Carte Blanche

Happy Weekend! Who is ready for champagne? Or really any day of the week, these days let’s celebrate nightly!

This exceptional blend of eight harvests reveals its equilibrium, strength, and roundness with the addition of Louis Roederer’s famous reserve wines.

— Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Cellar Master

I remember having this bottle at the Louis Roederer Mansion in Champagne, France and having to discuss the nuances among wine professionals. We were pairing this wine with a foie gras ravioli. Drooling in remembrance…

Here is what I wrote:

The oak aging in the wine paired lovely with the hazelnuts in this dish. It was an obvious compliment. On the nose of the wine in regards to aroma… there was a roundness of dried candied fruit and baked apricots that stood up to the rich and savory foie gras in the ravioli stuffing. This wine also had a beautiful buttery creaminess on the palate that paired exquisitely with the creaminess of the dish…

After the upheavals of the early 1900s, particularly the First World War that destroyed more than half of the Louis Roederer estate, Léon Olry Roederer reconstructed the vineyards. He decided to buy grapes to ensure the continuity of the House during this difficult period and, at the same time, created a multi-vintage wine that would have a consistent flavour, whatever the harvest year. The Carte Blanche cuvée—like Brut Premier—is produced from around 40% Pinot noir, 40% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier, 5% of which is wine matured in oak tuns. It is aged for 3 years in Louis Roederer’s cellars and left for a minimum of 6 months after dégorgement (disgorging). Ample, and creamy, with a refined and persistent acidity that gives it a very delicate freshness, this blend has ripe fruit notes with almost caramelized accents and a flavour of honey and ground almonds.

Check out Le Petit Dejeuner (Excerpt 5) where I give a description of what it felt like to arrive at the Louis Roederer Mansion 🙂