Carte Blanche is slightly sweet, smooth and creamy; an ideal dessert wine. A sugar dosage gives the wine a pleasant sweetness without masking its complexity and elegance.

Grapes
40% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier

Viticulture
Roederer own over 214 hectares of vineyards from the three main growing zones in Champagne.

The vineyards are located in the finest villages, such as Ay, Verzenay, Vervy, Avize and Cramant where the plots rank between 95% and 100% on the official classification scale for the 'crus'.

Roederer source two thirds of their grape needs from their own vineyards, which is the largest proportion of any champagne house and enables them to have strict control over their raw materials. For example Roederer 'green harvest in July to reduce the amount of grapes and thus improve quality.

The harvest takes place usually mid September and takes around 15 days. 600 people work in the Louis Roederer vineyards, harvesting the grapes by hand. The grapes are then transported quickly and efficiently to one of Louis Roederer's three pressing centres, which are in the heart of its vineyards.

Wine Making
During the blending 10% of reserve wines is added, this give Carte Blanche its extra dimension. Reserve wines are made up of the best wines from at least 3 former vintages, which are set aside to age in large oak casks in the Reserve Wine Cellar.

After blending and the addition of the liqueur de tirage (this starts off the secondary fermentation, which creates the sparkle in champagne) the wines are left to mature for at least four years. This is in excess of the legal minimum.

The final stages involve disgorging the wine. This is where the sediment formed by the secondary fermentation is removed to give a clear liquid. At this stage the liqueur de dosage is added. These liqueur wines are the result of a meticulous selection of wines that have been aged for six to ten years in the famous oak casks. They are added to compensate for the natural acidity of the champagne and to determine the style of the champagne. Before its addition champagne is considered extra brut and the more liqueur that is added, the sweeter the champagne will be.

Tasting Notes
The color is pale golden. The inclusion of oak-aged reserve wines from four to 10 years is more apparent than in the Brut quality champagnes. The reserve wines give complexity and roundness characteristic of Louis Roederer champagnes.