Champagne powerhouse Louis Roederer has launched two single-vineyard still wines from the famed sparkling wine region, as more Champagne producers move to experiment with still wines due to global warming.
Named after one of the most remarkable figures in the history of the Louis Roederer Champagne house, Camille Olry-Roederer, these two wines, Camille Charmont 2018 Pinot Noir and Camille Volibarts 2018 Chardonnay, allow fine wine drinkers to discover another facet of the unique winemaking expertise of this family-owned Champagne house.
Camille Olry-Roederer took over the house following the death of her husband, Léon Olry-Roederer, in 1932 and was in charge up until 1975. She’s credited for modernizing the family-owned Champagne house and successfully steered it through two world wars and social changes. The house today is helmed by Frédéric Rouzaud, her great grandson.
Forward-thinking and creative, she is said to have surprised her dinner guests with still wines from some of Louis Roederer’s finest vineyards which she was particularly fond of.
But the project itself has been a long time coming. Louis Roederer has been contemplating releasing still wines alongside its famous fizz for years. In 2018, the house’s chef de cave, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, revealed that they are working on producing still wines from the Champagne region.
The wines are produced under the Coteaux Champenois appellation.
The wines are going to be available in Hong Kong and mainland China in very limited quantity in May through Links Concept.
The Camilles Charmonts will retail for HK$1500 and Camille Volibarts Chardonny will sell for HK$ 1350.
The red is made from 100% Pinot Noir from a 43-ares plot in the Charmont lieu-dit in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, while the white is crafted from a 55-ares plot of old historic Chardonnay vines in the Volibarts lieu-dit in Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger, according to Louis Roederer.
The new collection is thus described by the house as “a new expression of the spirit of invention, creativity and freedom that has characterized Louis Roederer since its creation and which this remarkable woman embodied so brilliantly”.
Before Champagne became known for its fine bubbles, it was a still wine producing region.
In 1974, INAO granted still wines from Champagne the title of Coteaux Champenois, but by mid 1980s still wines have essentially vanished from the market.
The still wine tradition is gradually picked up by champenoise in recent years as global warming allowed for grapes to ripen more easily in the northern tip of France.
