It was a cool January afternoon as I pulled up to Champagne Louis Roederer. Louis Roederer only produces their ‘Cristal’ Champagne in specific vintages that work for their style and I was very excited to taste the latest edition. The first ‘Cristal’ Champagne was created back in 1876 to satisfy the demanding tastes of Tsar Alexander II. The emperor asked Louis Roederer to reserve the House’s best cuvée for him every year as he was fond of Louis Roederer’s style. This Champagne was initially distinguished by being presented in a flat-bottomed, transparent lead-crystal bottle. The ‘Cristal’ brand was named after the lead-crystal bottle, which is particularly transparent and luminous.
‘Cristal’ Champagne blending is typically around 40% Chardonnay and 60% Pinot Noir, although that varies on the vintage. Cristal is aged for 6 years in Louis Roederer’s cellars and then left for a further 8 months after disgorgement. The ‘Cristal’ Rose Champagne is always composed of estate fruit and the wine is primarily fermented and aged in steel, but roughly 15-20% of the blend is aged in oak. Dosage in this wine has slowly gone down.
I had the chance to taste the new edition, the 2015, against the stunning 2014. The 2014 is amongst the finest wines from the vintage and I have little doubt that the 2015 will also be one of the wines of the vintage. 2015 saw a lot of warmth but the wine maintains an incredible tension throughout the drinking experience. The marvelous 2015 ‘Cristal’ (OB, 97) is dense and fleshy just as the 2014 is. This style reminds me more of the 2009 vintage which was a remarkable achievement in a hot year. Both the 2014 and 2015 considerably benefit from 20-30 minutes in the decanter Learn more about this great Champagne at http://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/cristal
2014 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Champagne- This is now the third opportunity I have had to taste the thrilling 2014 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Champagne which remains a much headier, riper style of this wine somewhat akin to the incredible 2009. On the nose this shows off stony minerals that collide with wet stones, kumquat zest, pastry crust and shades of salted cantaloupe. The palate is very dense and hearty with serious tension that holds everything together neatly. Massive in terms of richness and quite literally fat on the mouth, this delivers impeccable mouth-watering acidity that combines with the heady ore of citrus zest and brioche flavors. A joy to drink now, this really needs 30-40 minutes of air to fully evolve. Don’t drink this beauty too cold! Drink 2023–2040- 97
2015 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Champagne- The scintillating new 2015 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Champagne is a stunning blend of 60% Pinot Noir with the remainder Chardonnay. Coming from this hot vintage, this edition has Pinot Noir wines sourced from Ay, Verzenay, Verzy, Beaumont-sur-Veslewhile, while Chardonnay comes from Avize, Mesnil as well as Cramant. Harvest for this wine began in early September, as the 2015 ‘Cristal’ was given 7G/L dosage. A massive amount of Pink Grapefruit zest greets you alongside the refined mousse, with diatomaceous and chalky soils, jasmine and wafts of Gravenstein apple. The palate is big and burly, with outstanding flavor density, and comes off extremely tightly wound at first. After 30 minutes of air this really sings with its Meyer lemon oil and salty core, showing toasted hazelnut undertones. This is a stunning achievement in a hot vintage and just as the 2014, this will cellar well over the next fifteen to twenty years to come. Drink 2023-2040- 97