One of the great champagnes of the world, the Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Rose Champagne was many years in the making. It all began in1974, almost 200 years after the establishment of the Champagne House of Louis Roederer and 100 years after the creation of Cristal, as Jean-Claude Rouzaud decided to create the Cristal Rosé cuvée. To achieve this, he selected old-vine Pinot noir grapes (using massale selection, which involves propagation from the vineyard’s most successful plants) from the finest grand cru vineyards of Aÿ.
The limestone bedrock and unique calcareous clay soil enable the vines (in the best years) to attain great fruit maturity, alongside the signature racy acidity that makes Cristal so special. Today, the vineyards are farmed biodynamically. Over the years, Louis Roederer has developed a unique method for the production of its rosé champagnes. This process, referred to by Roederer as the "infusion" technique, allows the winemaking team to extract the juicy, ripe character of the Pinot Noir whilst also keeping good freshness. A small amount of Chardonnay juice is added to the Pinot Noir maceration. Cristal Rosé 2014 is composed of grapes sourced from Aÿ, Avize, and Mesnil-sur-Oger. 19% of the wines are vinified in oak as dosage is 8 g/L.
I was blown away with this 2014 Roederer ‘Cristal’ Rose (OB, 99) which flirts with perfection. It is a stunning wine that really needs about 20 to 30 minutes of air before consuming. Refined and nuanced, it is going to blow you away! Learn more about this special wine at https://www.louis-roederer.com/fr and here is my review of the 2014 ‘Cristal’ Rose Champagne.
2014 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Rose Champagne- The 2014 ‘Cristal’ Rose is a stunning, age-worthy bottling that really needs 30 plus minutes of air prior to consuming. For my palate this eclipses the incredible ’99 and ’02 bottlings — and is absolutely amongst the finest ‘Cristal’ Rose wines ever produced. A short decant in a narrow decanter also does wonders to arouse the aromatics. Given 7G/L dosage, this was disgorged more than two years ago in June 2022. Sourced from the villages of Aÿ, Avize, and Mesnil-sur-Oger, nearly 20% of the base wines were stored in oak prior to disgorgement. This is big and burly with a refined effervescence. Delicate strawberry and red raspberry alongside chalky soils and nuances of kumquat zest with candied ginger all mark the palate. The length and elegance of the wine really shines as this is already drinking beautifully. Drink 2024-2044- 99