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News
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 - Anton...
Wine Description
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 ...
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 deve...
Vintage 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 o...
