A champagne made in order of Czar Alexander II. Louis Roederer Cristal is made according to the strictest criteria. Louis Roederer Cristal is made by the pinot noir and chardonnay grapes of the 10 most popular crus of the House. This strict selection results in a top-quality champagne.
Cristal is produced using only the finest vintages from crus guaranteed to originate from the Louis Roederer vineyard. All the exceptional characteristics of the 2006 vintage have literally been captured in this Cristal 2005, which is generous and lush, revealing perfect balance between concentration and finesse, freshness and vinosity, intensity and refinement. In three words: proud, rich and luxurious. The iconic Roederer Champagne, Cristal's 2005 brings a perfect balance of richness and age worthiness. It is full of apple flavor, and the mousse is very fine and almost imperceptible. As so often with a beautifully blended wine like this, a few minutes breathing brings out extra complex flavors. It certainly should age over five years and more. While the 2004 Brut Cristal has put on quite a bit of weight since I first tasted it earlier this year. It is a powerful, structured Cristal layered with considerable fruit. Chardonnay seems to play the leading role in 2004, at least today. Cristal is often accessible young, but that is far from the case here. This is a serious, painfully young Cristal that will require considerable patience. Readers who are willing to spend some time with the wine today will find a super-impressive, complete Cristal. The 2004 Cristal is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.
Why is the wine so expensive?
The grapes are primarily sourced from older low yielding vines in selected estate vineyards and mainly grand cru designated property. We crop them at the beginning and perform traditional tilling of soil using no herbicide at all. Some parts are plowed by horse. The grapes require an enormous amount of work and craftsmanship in the vineyards. In the winery we ferment all blocks separately and at final blending we decide on a vision of the wines we want to produce from vineyard. A great wine comes from an assembly of myriad details.
