The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's 50 best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.
Uutiset
The Wine Advocate - Antonio Galloni - January 23, 2009
96 Points "Roederer’s 1996 Cristal is gorgeous. The expressive, floral bouquet melds seamlessly into an expansive palate of sweet fruit. This is an exceptionally polished and finessed Cristal, but like so many vintages, it needs time in bottle, regardless of how rewarding it is today. Even after all of these great 1996s, the Cristal delivers the goods."
The Wine Advocate - Antonio Galloni - January 2009
96 Points "The estate’s 1996 Cristal, from a legendary vintage, does not disappoint. ...The 1996 is an insanely beautiful Cristal loaded with floral, perfumed fruit and vibrant minerality. The wine turns delicate in the glass, yet this is a sublime, fresh Cristal that is in need of further cellaring."
Wine Review Online - Ed McCarthy - August 2005
99 Points "Champagne doesn't get much better than Cristal; in the great vintages, it has no peer. Louis Roederer has been making Cristal as a dry prestige cuvée only since the end of World War II, but since then, this house has made some of the world's greatest Champagnes... The '96 Cristal stood out like a beacon at a recent Champagne luncheon of prestige cuvees. Its intense, honeyed flavors penetrate the palate and are backed with piercing acidity."
Wine Spectator - B.S. - November 2003
94 Points "A paradox. This has weight yet a sensation of weightlessness thanks to its seamless texture and harmony. Still firm and forceful yet elegant, offering citrus, pastry, biscuit and hazelnut notes enmeshed in the creamy texture. Great structure for aging. Drink now through 2015."
The Wine Advocate - Robert Parker - December 2002
95 Points
International Wine Cellar - Stephen Tanzer - December 2002
94+ Points "Multidimensional nose offers baked apple, orange oil, acacia honey, white chocolate, toffee and earthy low tones. Expansive, super concentrated and powerful but not aggressive, with wonderfully sweet flavors of orange, flowers and honey supported by strong underlying structure. An amazingly solid Champagne with the stuffing for extended development in bottle."
Wine Enthusiast - W.E. - December 2002
92 Points "Fresh brioche and roasted honey aromas are as rich and intense as the apple and anise flavors. The mouthfeel is creamy yet crisp and vibrant."
Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
In 1876 when Tsar Alexander II requested that a special cuvée be created for his court Roederer duly obliged, creating what many regard to be the first prestige cuvée.
As the political situation in Russia was somewhat unstable, Tsar Alexander feared assassination. He ordered that Champagne bottles be made of clear glass, so that he could see the bubbles and to prevent anyone from hiding a bomb within, as could easily happen with a typical dark green bottle. Roederer commissioned a Flemish glassmaker to create clear lead crystal Champagne bottles with a flat bottom.
Originally a sweet blend, the Champagne was named “Cristal” after these distinctive clear lead crystal glass bottles.
In 1909, the House of Louis Roederer was regarded as the “Official Purveyor of Champagne to the Imperial Court of Russia” – a business coup that was later reversed following the deposition of the Tsar during the 1917 Revolution. Prohibition in the US caused additional financial difficulties during the early 20th century. However, the house survived these setbacks and today Louis Roederer remains an independent, family-owned business, managed by Roederer’s descendant, Frédéric Rouzaud.
The composition of Cristal is approximately 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay. The grapes used in the wine come from only the finest vineyards in Grand Cru villages. Lecaillon talks about the crucial role that vineyards play in quality:
“A majority of our most recent development has been in vineyard operations. We have strict limits set for crop yields and we're using vines that are 25 years old on average. We evaluate the grapes coming from our own vineyards very critically. We try to improve the vineyards that aren't performing well and keep the ones that are at the highest level of quality.
The grapes from our own vineyards produce wines with an alcohol content that’s an average of 1% higher than those produced with purchased grapes. There’s less tart malic acid in our own grapes. Even though we strive for the highest possible acidity, it’s absolutely necessary that this is accompanied by a ripe fruitiness. We belong to the five-percent minority of Champagne's producers who do not use malolactic fermentation to reduce wine acidity. The range of aromas is accentuated by the high-acid structure, much in the same way a salad dressing brings out the aromas in the food.
“And we stopped using cloned vines - we're only using the vine offspring from our own vineyards to ensure natural diversity. In the 1950s, -60s and -70s cloning was far too simple a solution for such a complex thing." Chef de Cave Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon explained
Wine Information
A gleaming pale gold color, with a fine foam and an elegant cord of bubbles. It has an eloquent, intense, delicate nose, with almond flavors, and constant fresh white flowers. It has a full, consistent attack, with remarkable balance, near gossamer-like smoothness, and an extraordinary length. Serve with the more refined dishes: caviar, fish, and shellfish such as lobster, and spiny lobster.
Cristal comes from the strictest criteria of development, which require a drastic selection of the cru, villages, grapes, and finally, of the wines. Only Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from the House's ten most famous crus are retained.
Vuosikerta 1996
Up to this point 1996 has been considered a fantastic vintage which produced classic wines; the best since 1990. A long, dry summer produced grapes of record ripeness with record acidity. Some, including myself, question how the 1996s are aging. The wines are generally characterized by a distinctive rather lemony acidity and very good attack, but some wines now seem terribly austere, while others already seem dangerously short of fruit. None of the subsequent vintages are quite as distinctive as 1996, which in the more successful cases should almost certainly be drunk after the 1999s.
