Vintage2003

Extraordinary! If it is indeed an exception, 2003 is the perfect embodiment of it. It was a vintage of extremes, alternating between drought and bitter cold. This heatwave year also saw the highest temperature ever recorded in Champagne: 42°C in August!

These unusual conditions led to a very rapid and complete ripening of remarkably healthy grapes with high sugar concentrations. The grapes were harvested as early as 21 August: you have to go as far back as 1893 or 1822 to find any records of such an early ripening...

This champagne, from the Domaine Louis Roederer in the Montagne de Reims, is a magnificent blend of the Pinot noirs from Verzy, on a north-east-facing plot, and the Chardonnays from Chouilly, on a south-east-facing plot. Only a few dozen plots were required to bring this vintage to life... Every year is a challenge and only the best years allow us to produce a vintage champagne. Vintage is therefore the testimony of an exceptional year, a snapshot of a terroir that has undergone a slow maturation process.

Aged for over 5 years in the cellars, this champagne is an invitation to enjoyment, pleasure and good conversation. The reflection of a single year, you will savour its unforgettably elegant character.

Champagne has never produced a more original and mature vintage! An intense and powerful wine, this Vintage shows a rich and complete aromatic evolution; it is a cocktail of dried fruit, spices and ripe fruit, set off by slightly roasted biscuity notes. The body is generous, full and warm, the texture is vinous, the finish long and elegant. Best enjoyed with poultry or sweetbreads with porcini mushrooms.

Our champagnes undergo an extended period of ageing to allow them to gently evolve and mature, gaining in structure and depth, whilst developing highly nuanced aromas over the years.

You may enjoy them in the purity and chalky freshness of their youth or, if you appreciate more mature champagnes, wait a few more years or even decades for their candied, spicy notes to emerge. Our champagnes have a long future ahead of them and their destiny is in your hands!