The bright golden Roederer & Starck 2009 Brut Nature assembles two-thirds Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier with one-third Chardonnay. The grapes come from various parcels in Cumières and were harvested the same day and then pressed together all at once. The idea here is that the place is stronger than the expression of the varietals. Regarding the place, it's a deep and marly clay soil that gives a big expression of fruit in a continental and sunny year such as 2009. Indeed, the wine delivers very intense and creamy fruit aromas to the nose that combine the vinosity and structure of Pinot Noir with the ripeness of Pinot Meunier and the floral finesse and freshness of Chardonnay but doesn't represent the varieties as such. The 2009 was partly fermented in oak (at roughly 30%), but there was no malolactic fermentation. Disgorged in May 2016, the 2009 is now better than ever and reveals a fascinatingly pure yet delicate and elegant bouquet with iodine, lemon zest, hazelnut, herbal and very fine spicy notes, all perfectly interwoven. The palate is predestinated for the Brut Nature style because it's rich, ripe, round and fruity by the nature of the vintage and is also pure, fresh and salty, with just the right creaminess and mineral tension. The finish is long and chalky and reveals great mineral purity, tension and stimulating salinity. The 2009 has developed enormously in the past few years and is now very fine and elegant as well as perfectly matured. Tasted May 2018.