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Cristal 2009

Louis Roederer, Champagne, France

Louis Roederer
Champagne France
  • 97
    Points
  • The 662 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 33 Pros of
    33 recommend
    this wine
1121 97
  • Taste
  • Moment
  • Best Champagne of the World: 2nd Place
    BWW-Best Wine of the World -Competition 2017

  • Country ranking ?

    566

  • Producer ranking ?

    32

  • Decanting time

    20min

  • When to drink

    from 2018

  • Food Pairing

    Sashimi and sushi

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 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.

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Cristal 2009 is the most recent release at £549 per 6×75 (£1,098 per 12×75). Antonio Galloni awarded it 96+ points in August, praising its “remarkable depth and striking purity” and noting that it “is a superb Cristal in the making”. The 2009 is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. Galloni said that the percentage of wine aged in oak is 15%, which is down slightly from previous vintages.

Market trends

Cristal 2009 has been pitched at a sim...

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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 ...

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Wine Information

A continental, sunny year with a real winter that was very cold and dry followed by a glorious sun-filled summer and almost no rain in August and September. All this meant traditional vine growth, excellent health and remarkable grape ripeness for the production of dense, fruity and delicious wines. 2009 is an obvious addition to the select group of brilliant and accomplished Champagne vintages with a light, sunny character.

60 % Pinot noir...

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Vintage 2009

This warm year started with a cold winter and mild spring temperatures. Early summer was variable but August and September provided ample sunshine and warmth contributing to fine grape health. Pinot Noir especially excelled. Grape harvest, of generally high sugar content yet soft acidity, started on September 8th. 2009 is a year of generous wines that showed well early. An apt example of a vintage of the recent era, in which retaining freshnes...

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Tasting note

color

Light, Green-Yellow and Healthy

ending

Long, Lingering and Vibrant

flavors

Citrus, Apricot, Mineral, Spice, Viscous and Vanilla

nose

Intense, Pure, Fresh and Complex

taste

High in Acidity, Balanced, Concentrated, Well-structured, Youthful, Medium-bodied, One-dimensional, Round, Elegant, Fresh and Dry

Verdict

Fine and Excellent

Written Notes

Good looking normal size bottle, in an perfect condition and has by the neck level. Colour is green-yellow, and looking bright, healthy and medium. On the nose it is wide, youthful, fresh, tempting and pure. The taste is elegant, round, fresh, medium-bodied, with balanced structure and the palate is one-dimensional. On the palate it is layered and has vanilla, floral, perfumed, tropical fruits, violet, citrus and honey flavours. The finish is medium long and pure. This wine is an easy-drinking, transparent and fine. I paid around 100-200€ a bottle. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 10-15 years and decant at least 15min before tasting. Good value for money.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 91p

45 parcels of pure chalk. See this report on a vertical tasting of Cristal. The idea is to capture the purity of chalk. Naturally low yields, high ripeness and low pH. The 45 parcels are always fermented separately. 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. They retain only the best for Cristal. They have twice used all 45 parcels: in 2015 and 2002. Often 30-35 parcels make it. No malo. 40% of the parcels are biodynamic. Cristal spends one more year on the lees than Roederer vintage champagne. They released 2009 before 2008. There can be four different disgorgement dates for Cristal.
Tense and lifted on the nose. So very different from the vintage: much more finesse. Racy and elegant. Masses of acidity and tension. Lighter in texture than the vintage. A racy thoroughbred. So refined but very youthful.

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  • 96p

45 parcels of pure chalk. See this report on a vertical tasting of Cristal. The idea is to capture the purity of chalk. Naturally low yields, high ripeness and low pH. The 45 parcels are always fermented separately. 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. They retain only the best for Cristal. They have twice used all 45 parcels: in 2015 and 2002. Often 30-35 parcels make it. No malo. 40% of the parcels are biodynamic. Cristal spends one more year on the lees than Roederer vintage champagne. They released 2009 before 2008. There can be four different disgorgement dates for Cristal.
Tense and lifted on the nose. So very different from the vintage: much more finesse. Racy and elegant. Masses of acidity and tension. Lighter in texture than the vintage. A racy thoroughbred. So refined but very youthful.

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  • 96p

The 2009 Cristal is a beauty, with incredible richness as well as elegance, which are the hallmarks of this cuvée. Always a rough blend of 60/40 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from estate vineyards, it has a toasty, yet pure bouquet of stone fruits, rising bread, white flowers, and toasted bread, as well as a terrific sense of chalky minerality. While it’s not built around sheer richness and power (à la Krug), it’s perfectly balanced, has a fine, fine mousse, and shines for its class and purity. Bravo! It’s going to keep for another two decades

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  • 97p

A very rich and full-bodied Cristal that harks back to 2006 or 1989 in style. It's round and rich, which underlies the ripeness of the vintage. Lots of dried-apple and pineapple character with bread dough and flan flavors. The bubbles are so fine you almost don't notice them. Very vinous style.

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  • 97p

Lovely melange of pure, soft white fruitiness and bready complexity on the withdrawn nose of great elegance. The palate is more forward with lovely silky, almost oily softness of texture, which comes with a fine mineral kick at the very finish. Needs time.

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  • 95p
Good looking normal size bottle. Colour is green-yellow and light. On the nose it is intense, complex, refined, fresh and pure. The taste is fresh, full, round, elegant, vivid, refined, and dry, and high in acidity, medium-bodied, with balanced, well-structured, good texture, concentrated structure and youthful. On the palate it is layered and has apricot, citrus, mineral, spice and viscous flavours. The finish is long, lingering and vibrant. This wine is fine and excellent. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 10-15 years and decant at least 15min before tasting.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 93p
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Information

Origin

Reims, Champagne

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Good

Fake factory

None

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Inside Information

An interesting contrast to the already-open Henriot 2009. I tasted this at the launch on of the top floor of The Shard, London's tallest building, looking at a fiery sunset and catching up on gossip with David Roberts MW of Goedhuis. Maybe the wine was served just a fraction too cool in recognition of the length of the guest list but it was extremely youthful and tight, so that there was not that much on the nose, but it built admirably through the palate to provide an intriguingly spicy, dense, long-lasting finish. I don't think that this 2009 has reached anything like its full potential and in a world that was not gagging for the latest vintage of Cristal, Roederer would have benefited from waiting a little while before releasing it. Given they have deliberately launched this before the 2008, I can only imagine how backward the older vintage is. It must be a real challenge for winemaker Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon to deliver wines that are easy to drink but do not sacrifice their potential. He is quoted as saying that the proportion of biodynamically-grown grapes in this vintage has reached 40% and will be greater in the future. The wine certainly has real dynamism. And I'm sure will deserve an even higher score eventually. (Drink between 2019-2035)
Score: 18+ Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, October 2016

The 2009 Cristal is a beauty, with incredible richness as well as elegance, which are the hallmarks of this cuvée. Always a rough blend of 60/40 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from estate vineyards, it has a toasty, yet pure bouquet of stone fruits, rising bread, white flowers, and toasted bread, as well as a terrific sense of chalky minerality. While it’s not built around sheer richness and power (à la Krug), it’s perfectly balanced, has a fine, fine mousse, and shines for its class and purity. Bravo! It’s going to keep for another two decades. Maturity: 2018 - 2038.
Score: 97 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, February 2018
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