Roederer's millésime routinely numbers among my pound-for-pound Champagne favorites. Year in and out the bottling outperforms so many tête de cuvées that pragmatically it has become one. The message is positive rather than contrarian: Roederer's 'Cristal,' the top wine in the range, forms a kind of smoke screen that happily insulates the straight millésime from normative 'top wine' price positioning.
The house's 2008 has always seemed a touchstone of refinement, remarkably precise but not angular like many examples can be. In a sense the vintage seems almost designed for the house's ultra-pure style. You feel the 70% Pinot (Verzy, Verzenay) in the extra bit of mid-palate density, a handsome addition to the strictly classical feel you sense throughout the rest of the wine.
Drinking very well now, this millésime should cruise elegantly through several more decades in bottle. Offered here at the sharpest price in the country.
Cheers,
Jason
