Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal 2013

Producer Information

Founded in 1776, and property of the same family since 1819, Champagne Louis Roederer is today one of the last major champagne houses to be an independent family affair.  The annual production of its wines (Brut Premier, Carte Blanche, Brut Vintage, Rosé Vintage, Blanc de Blancs, Brut Nature, Brut Nature Rosé, Cristal and Cristal Rosé) represents just over three million bottles, distributed to 100 countries worldwide.  In 1974, almost 200 years after the establishment of the Champagne house of Louis Roederer and 100 years after the creation or Cristal, Jean-Claude Rouzaud decided to create the Cristal Rosé cuvée. To achieve this, he selected old-vine Pinot Noir grapes using massal selection, which involves propagation from the vineyard’s most successful plants.

Vineyards

Cristal is a blend of seven Grand Crus from the Montagne de Reims, the Marne Valley and the Côte des Blancs.

Cristal 2013 is farmed 100% biodynamically.

Winemaking

Cristal is 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay.  No malolactic fermentation is carried out and 32% of the wines are vinified in oak.

Vintage Information

2013 was characterised by a particularly late growing cycle.  A seemingly endless winter was followed by a very cool, late spring.  We had to wait until the start of July for flowering to begin – something we hadn’t seen in Champagne for quite some time!  Fortunately, summer was glorious with plenty of sunshine, record high temperatures and very low rainfall, ideal for the ripening of the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays.  The temperatures were cool for the October harvest and the resulting wines are elegant and fresh – the signs of a classic vintage.

Tasting Note

Powerful and complex on the palate, revealing a mixture of yellow fruit (mirabelle plum), juicy, ripe fruits (nectarine), citrus peel (candied orange) and finely-roasted nuts (hazelnut).  The nose is simultaneously powdery and sweet, with elegant, chalky notes.

Gentle, tactile and full-bodied on the palate.  The bubbles create a gentle, vibrating sensation, then the wine becomes soft, dense and juicy.  But it is the chalky freshness that quickly sets the tone: the sweetness becomes energetic and intense, giving the wine an elegant yet powerful texture.  Fine, textured tannins reveal a poised and vinous dimension to the wine.  The finish is savoury and saline.

Cristal 2013 is a great classic in which maturity and freshness are harmoniously interwoven ensuring potential for long ageing.

Press

“A fine mix of intellectual and pleasurable.  Pretty gorgeous” – Jancis Robinson (18.5 points)

“2013 is a dynamic wine with an exquisite salty and chalky expression on the finish.  While the perfume is not as reticent as the palate there is still a mesmerising scent of strict citrus notes and faint nuttiness.  There is arresting purity and drive here in fact a sip leaves one out of breath, such is the complexity on offer and the time taken for the palate to compute what is happening.” – Matthew Jukes (19.5 points)

“The 2013 vintage was sculpted by its late season with grapes ending up harvested in October. But ripe they became with heaps of delicious cool and crunchy fruit. Cristal Blanc is so racy and pure with huge, salty mineral tanginess at the fore. But look beyond and get bedazzled by its fruity power. Lemon, lime, white currant and Granny Smith apple with chalky tones and gunpowder whiffs arising over time. Focused and saline on the mouth-wateringly zingy palate.” – Essi Avellan MW (96-99 points)

AOC Champagne
Pinot Noir
Chardonnay

cork
12%
8g/l

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