Roederer Hommage a Camille Coteaux Rouge 2019

Jancis Robinson: Full bottle 1,540 g – still too much! From a corner of the Charmont lieu-dit in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, like the 2018. 1,222 bottles produced. Sheltered from wind. Planted with their own massal selection. Lots more clay (with chalk) than most of its neighbours. 2019 was warm and hot so it was good for still wines and getting the phenolics ripe. Grapes were picked 18 September right at the end of harvest before a two-week maceration. 'This block doesn’t need to be pushed too far,' according to Lécaillon. (There will be a new block in Dizy for 2021). 30% whole bunch. Aged for nine months in oak: 47% new, 29% 1 yr old, 24% 2 yr old. At the end of summer Lécaillon racks off the barrels and keeps the wine in tank for another five months 'so it goes back to reduction a little bit'. Quite a deep garnet. Rather attractive savoury nose – less sweet than the 2018 (that was 13% alcohol). There's even a light mineral note. Good acidity. Doesn't taste like the product of a hot vintage. Appetising and quite sophisticated. Tannins still there which promises for the future though it's not desperately persistent at the moment. This red version didn't last as well as the white in an opened bottle over 24 hours. 17/20 (2022)