Blog

“Reaching the peak of maturity yet still as fresh as ever, these Late Release champagnes illustrate their exceptional cellaring potential and incredible gastronomic dimension.” - Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Cellar Master

LATE RELEASE,

TIME STANDS STILL

Late Release is a collection of vintage champagnes whose maturation “sur lattes” has been prolonged by around 10 years and which, after more than two decades of ageing, are revealing themselves to us in a new light as they reach the peak of their expression.

Having been carefully preserved for many long years in the complete darkness of the Louis Roederer cellars, in perfect temperature and humidity conditions, these vintage champagnes are now reaching the pinnacle of their potential and are disclosing a new facet of themselves. While these wines have been notably influenced by their ageing on the lees in the bottle, they continue to offer a genuine expression of the unique terroirs from which they hail.

Each vintage that has been carefully selected by the cellar master is now ready to begin a new life with an even broader drinking potential.

“Some very rare gems are waiting patiently in the silence and darkness of the Louis Roederer cellars, having been honed in preparation for their release. The vintages that I have chosen to unveil today are above all Grands Vins de Champagne, confident with age, to pave the way for exceptional gastronomic pairings.” -  Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Cellar Master

THE SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN THREE ELEMENTS

TIME.

INFINITE FRESHNESS

Time is fundamental, the real sculptor of the Rosé Late Release. Still as fresh as ever, even after over 20 years of ageing, and offering an exceptional harmony of tastes and aromas, the Rosé Late Release is a champagne that suspends time and slows its march: the chalk continues to resonate revealing minerality and a perfect balance in a wine of clarity and precision.

“ Time is granting us a new perspective, an epiphany that can only occur when the wine has spent an equivalent amount of time ‘sur lattes’ and ‘under cork ’ after disgorgement.” Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Cellar Master

THE PLACE

THE LA RIVIÈRE ESTATE

The Rosé Late Release is born in the heart of the La Rivière estate. It was here, at the turn of the 20th century, that Léon Olry Roederer, the founder’s grandson, and then his widow Camille, came to realise the quality and potential of these terroirs. The vineyards have since expanded to cover the finest lieux-dits in the Champagne region, which are now classified as a Unesco world heritage site, thus marking the start of a second wave of acquisitions for the Champagne House.

The villages of Mutigny, Champillon, Hautvillers, Cumières, Mareuil, Épernay and Aÿ, Dizy in the center and Chouilly, slightly east, together form a unique climate circle situated on the historic hillsides of the Champagne region. It is here that the Marne River once carved out the valley and sculpted the contours of this unique land in which the fog descends upon the vineyards and covers them in a blanket of clouds.

This ‘mesoclimate’ is unique to these riverside vineyards which are situated in the heart of Champagne and form the foundations and identity of our Rosé. They are located right at the intersection between three geographical and climate entities: the mild temperatures around the river, the protection of the forests and the limestone of the Côte. This is, in fact, the only terroir in Champagne to offer such diversity over a chalky bedrock: a multi-varietal terroir planted with Pinot noir and Chardonnay and offering a variety of northern and southern exposures. This diversity gives rise to wines with a unique complexity, texture, aromas and balance.

“These transitional terroirs are always the most powerful and capable of expressing the true essence of their origins owing to their rich and varied biodiversity. It really is an extraordinary and magical place!” - Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Cellar Master

SAVOIR-FAIRE.

A UNIQUE INFUSION TECHNIQUE

There is a long process involved in the creation of the Rosé Late Release. This wine is first and foremost the result of the unique savoir-faire which lies at the heart of Louis Roederer’s identity: the infusion technique. This is further enhanced by long periods of ageing and a gentle evolution which ensure that the Rosé Late Release preserves its initial grace and freshness.

The Cellar Master uses a method that is unique in the Champagne region involving a slow and gentle infusion process during which the grapes are infused at low temperatures for 6 to 7 days, depending on the vintage, enabling them to develop all of their aromas and texture in the most natural way possible. This method gently extracts the Pinot noir’s ripe juiciness whilst conserving its exceptional freshness. The Chardonnay juices are then added to impart mineral notes and citrus fruits.

This elegant Rosé Late Release is now disclosing the true scope of its freshness. Despite 20 years of ageing, it continues to resonate with incredible energy and has developed an unrivalled finesse, complexity and uniqueness making it particularly well-suited to gastronomy.

THE “GRANDS VINS” OF CHAMPAGNE AND GASTRONOMY

Rosé Late Release is superb with gastronomy and will work particularly well with many carefully crafted food pairings. After undergoing 10 years of ageing on the lees and a prolonged autolysis process that helps draw out the umami and iodine flavours, the champagne is disgorged and left to rest in our cellars for several more years. The champagne’s salinity deepens, while the creaminess and unctuousness of the bubbles intensify. The enveloping effervescence and subtle oxidation reveal the wine’s chalky terroir, grounding the champagne more deeply in its place of origin.

A quintessential champagne, Rosé Late Release offers endless complexity, refinement and subtlety, with each food pairing revealing its many layers. Gastronomy not only enhances its aromas and textures but also mirrors the emotions and sensations it evokes. Each pairing elevates, amplifies and complements the wine, situating it within a particular season, atmosphere, and landscape.

THE STORY(IES) OF FAMILIES

The Louis Roederer Champagne House wanted to entrust the delicate art of food pairing to a chef who shares our deep love for the Champagne region and, like Roederer, celebrates its rich and diverse artistry. Arnaud Lallement emerged as the natural, perhaps the only, choice—given the long-standing ties between the two families and Lallement’s exceptional eye for fine wines, especially those of Champagne.

The Rouzaud and Lallement families have shared a connection for several decades. In the 1970s, Arnaud Lallement and Frédéric Rouzaud’s parents would regularly meet at the Lallement family’s restaurant in Tinqueux, just outside Reims. When Arnaud took over the restaurant in 1997, the relationship not only continued but grew stronger, underpinned by a shared passion for the wines of Champagne. Living in the Champagne region makes a huge difference; the chef experiences every season, every movement, every change in the weather and those glorious days when the vines turn towards the sun. This close observation and connection to the vineyards provide an endless source of inspiration for the creation of dishes and food pairings.

Equally inspired by the diversity of Champagne’s artistry, both as a witness to and architect of its great success, Frédéric Rouzaud has a deep love of Champagne wines, describing them as ‟like lace with such fine nuances. In this respect, Arnaud’s work is truly exceptional, as he enhances and highlights the finesse of our wines through his careful selection of ingredients and the bold creativity of his food pairings.”

SALINITY AS A FOIL

‟When I taste a wine, a door opens,” says Arnaud Lallement. Having sampled each vintage of the Rosé Late Release, it seemed to him that the Champagne region’s chalk and its saline character could serve as both a trigger and a unifying element.

The chef used this salinity as a common element in his food pairings for the Rosé Late Release, emphasising the fact that these aged vintages embody the very essence of the Champagne region and its limestone terroir. Champagne is a sea of salt that permeates every plot, every vineyard block, and every product of the land. This salinity is uniquely highlighted through the pairings, finding a perfect harmony with these wines that have spent many long years ageing in the Louis Roederer cellars.

These food pairings are the result of a free and intuitive process. “There is no such thing as a perfect pairing. I immerse myself in my surroundings and the character of the year, drawing on my memories to craft combinations that resonate through textures and flavours, as well as contrasts and percussions—like my subtle addition of citrus pickles to highlight the wine’s salinity. Above all, I strive to explore these nuances with complete creative freedom, aiming to capture a bit more of that champagne magic, allowing my imagination to run free and having a bit of fun in the process.”

A WIDE RANGE OF FOOD PAIRINGS

The world of Rosé Late Release is vast and boundless, deserving of pairings that complement both its aromatic profile and its texture. The following are a few pairings, carefully crafted to reflect the wines’ current expression. Each pairing conjures vivid images, offering a joyful gustatory journey that celebrates this wine from the Champagne region, ready to grace the dinner table and perfectly complement any dish. Whether you choose to follow these suggestions, draw on your own inspiration, or create a unique interpretation, chef Lallement’s pairings are designed to spark your imagination, ignite your curiosity, and remind you that champagne has its rightful place at the dining table.

1998 VINTAGE

1998 was a particularly warm and mature year which helped the Pinot noir grapes to reach perfect maturity and gave us a wine with a powerful, vinous and almost tannic texture. This particularly generous and mature year produced an exuberant expressive array of aromas with notes of candied fruit and fresh, slightly distilled tart red fruit (cherries and blackcurrants) combined with chalky and toasted almond notes.

It was a year of constant questioning, in which the rosé found the perfect direction to take. 25 years later, the wine’s intense, juicy and seductive fruit is still intact and now supported by a smooth, powerful and vinous structure with the sensation of being a perfectly honed wine. The texture is soft, velvety smooth and almost comforting! A fresh finish lightens the whole with a slight, ripe and tannic bitterness that adds depth and persistence of flavour. This rosé champagne gives itself over immediately and with no holds barred, revealing a great softness that is delicious and almost sensual.

Arnaud Lallement 's pairing - THE WARMTH OF SPICES

This highly seductive vintage brings together an invigorating vinosity and remarkable power, accented by toasted and chalky overtones.

A roasted blue lobster with paprika, combining the warmth of the spices with the robust flavour of the shellfish, emerged as the most natural pairing. This is a match of strength and generosity, uniting two complementary forces and bridging two continents.

Composition: 64% Pinot noir 36% Chardonnay 6% of wines aged in oak 7% malolactic fermentation

Dosage: 8 g/l

Disgorgement: 18/11/2009

1999 VINTAGE

This 1999 rosé champagne is the expression of ripe and perfectly honed Pinot noirs and offers a fresh yet silky texture resulting in an incredibly sapid and mouth-watering sensation! An exhilarating champagne! With its notes of toasted bread, brioche and wheat combined with ripe and concentrated black fruit (blackcurrants and blueberries), you would think this was a champagne in the prime of its youth… And yet it has already spent more than 20 years slowly and gently evolving in the Louis Roederer cellars.

A champagne more than a rosé, this vintage reveals an enchanting freshness, youthful spirit, natural elegance and crystalline purity. It is broad, generous and full-bodied, yet fresh, well-balanced and extremely light thanks to an incredibly mouth-watering character that comes through on the mid-palate and results from the higher proportion of ageing in oak foudres.

A delicious treat for the tastebuds! Perfectly honed, precise and incredibly taut, this rosé has a character like no other, untroubled by the passing of time. The long, generous, powdery and spicy finish bears all the hallmarks of the limestone Rivière terroir. An ode to freshness and the Roederer style!

Arnaud Lallement 's pairing -ENHANCED SALINITY

With more Chardonnay again in the blend, this vintage is also the Champagne region’s least acidic since 1959. Underpinned by a higher proportion of wines aged in oak, it develops some exceptionally soft, smooth and creamy bubbles.

A delicately flavoured fish, such as Brill from the Brittany coast, would beautifully highlight the wine’s salinity in a complementary pairing. This balanced match can seamlessly transition to a light red berry and vanilla dessert with a toasted crispy topping.

Composition: 53% Pinot noir 47% Chardonnay 26% of wines aged in oak 5% malolactic fermentation

Dosage: 8 g/l

Disgorgement: 24/11/2010