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Cristal 2012

Louis Roederer, Champagne, France

Louis Roederer
Champagne France
  • 99
    Points
  • The 272 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 24 Pros of
    25 recommend
    this wine
1121 99
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    231

  • Producer ranking ?

    11

  • Decanting time

    20 min

  • When to drink

    now - 2035

  • Food Pairing

    salmon

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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Rich and complex aromas with notes of zesty and candied fruit (lemon) mingled with pollen (white flowers), roasted hazelnut and Madagascar vanilla. After aeration, the bouquet develops rich notes of fresh pastries and smoky notes from bottle ageing.

A delicious, concentrated and chalky palate. It shows incredible tension and perfectly honed aromatic precision. The attack is powerful, distinctive and concentrated and reveals a silky, mouth-c...

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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

"2012. It was a year of contrasts, one of hard toil but full of light. And it was a year in which the maturity of the grapes crafted a Cristal of a new dimension. »

Born in a year of contrasts, Cristal 2012 weaves a subtle blend of strength and finesse, the happy alliance of superb depth combined with the freshness of its limestone terroir. This wine of substance and firepower, born in the light of the white soils, finds a rare intensity in...

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Vintage 2012

2012 was deemed one of the best vintages the Champagne region has ever experienced. “The quality and the intensity are definitely there to make an outstanding vintage,” Dom Perignon chef de cave Richard Geoffroy told Decanter. The base wines show a lovely richness as well as the acidity needed to make outstanding and long-lived Champagnes. Yields are very low, in some places half of the allowed production.

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

35 tasting notes

Tasting note

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Written Notes

The 2008 is classic, refined, taut, precise, reticent, and yet intense, elegant, with great length. Both will age extremely well; the 2008 probably for longer than the 2012. I absolutely love the style of the 2008 but I would drink either of them any day of the week.

Whenever I have tasted the 2008 I have scored it 99 or 100. For me, the 2012 is 98. Others might reverse that.

The 2012 offers an enticing golden hue with a minute bead. It opens with alluring stone fruit, toast, and hazelnut characters. White peaches, orange rind, tropical notes, cinnamon, guava, and vanilla.

It is wonderfully intense and yet immaculately balanced with great length. The texture is seductively silk and satin. Vibrant acidity, a champagne with a great future ahead. More approachable than the 2008 at this early stage. A fabulous champagne.

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  • 98p

When I get served wines like this, I immediately think about how incredibly sad it is that a large group of ignorant people dismiss Cristal as the rappers' party drink. Of course, anyone who appreciates a beverage can drink just how much they want of it. But to rape its name to the mild degree that a vast portion of people associate the beverage with just them and their unsophisticated attitude towards one of the world's sacred wine graals, is both unfair and completely up against the walls. Few wines require such meditative concentration and focus as young bottles of Cristal.

There are more nuances and sublime shifts here than almost anywhere else. One aroma group consists of alternating mineral feature notes derived from the purest chalk in Verzy, Aÿ, Verzenay, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Avize, Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Another group is fresh notes of Granny Smith apples, gooseberries and sherbet. Another group consists of bright citrus notes and white early summer flowers. In the middle, the layer shows that is dominated by buttercream, cream, apricot and peach which emerges as the finest Peach Melba. A very important and unexpected group of aromas is the one with pineapple, coconut, mango and apparent melon. Unexpected because the fresh layers are so fresh that the exotic maturity and richness that layer exhibits should be a too difficult contrast to create. Finally, we must not forget the silky Louis Roederer-unique feather blanket that always wraps in all the goodies with notes of acacia honey, brioche, Tahiti vanilla and white chocolate.

It is wonderful to drink from the start if you manage to pull yourself together for total seeking mindfulness and of course even more impressive and easily understandable in ten years. 2012, in my opinion, is an even more balanced and harmonious Cristal than the already legendary vintage of 2008. Its balance between chalky elegance, finesse and deliciously sun-ripened fruit combined with impressive restrained power is extremely near perfection.

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  • 96p

Straw gold. Intense and rather Comtes de Champagne-like on the nose. Then on the palate it’s amazingly rich and tropical. Before slimming down into the corset of freshness. Lots of potential and tight and tense.”

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  • 97p

“2012 marks the very first Cristal fully crafted from biodynamically farmed fruit. This difficult growing season managed to turn the challenges into assets. It resulted in a deeply fruity, Pinot driven Cristal that is exceptionally expressive already upon launch. The ripe, sweetly fruity aromatics come with bright red apple and baked apricot hints and even some tropical fruit notes. It feels slightly more Pinot driven that what the 60% share would suggest and Pinot indeed was the years best performer, excelling to chef de cave Lécaillon like no other since 1990. The rounded palate goes hand in hand with the soft nose generating a beautifully textured palate that turns refreshingly saline towards the very finish. Despite its early generosity, no doubt a Cristal built to last. ”

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  • 99p

The 2012 Cristal is another absolutely stellar wine this flight of recent releases. Rich, vinous and beautifully textured, the 2012 has been nothing short of magnificent on the three occasions I have tasted it so far. In the glass, the 2012 is radiant and luscious, yet it possesses remarkable transparency and striking aromatic depth. Light tropical notes develop in the glass, giving the 2012 a real feeling of exotic beauty. The 2012 is the first vintage of Cristal done with 100% organically-farmed fruit, an approach introduced gradually starting with the 2007 that has profoundly changes Cristal, especially in its aromatic breadth. Two thousand twelve is the vintage where endless trials and experiments in farming and winemaking are fully realized. The 2012 is just stunning. It’s as simple as that. Dosage is just over 7 grams per liter, the lowest it has even been for Cristal.

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  • 98p

Such attractive, fresh, floral aromas here with fine bread, hints of white almonds and a lemon edge. White cherries and strong, chalky minerals, too. The palate has a very composed feel. Seamless and quite silky texture with effortless length and flow. Very fluid and composed. Very late, warming almond flavors. This is very long and smooth with a velvety finish. Super long pinot weight. Resolved and drinkable, but will age so well.

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  • 98p

To be launched December 2019 or January 2020. Not affected by the oidium problems experienced elsewhere. 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay (the same as 2008). ‘You have to adapt and stay on the blank page. If you try to tick too many boxes, you go in the wrong direction.’ It will be the average age for Cristal launch. It was 2008 that was late. This will be the first 100% biodynamic Cristal.
Rich and ripe, like 2002. Pungent nose – straight up the nose. Gorgeous and seductive. Complex and embroidered. Already lovely. The next chapter – all viticulture.

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  • 96p

Bright, yellow colour. The fresh nose reveals lovely gentle toastiness, hints of ripe apricots and refined smoky mineral tones. On palate the champagne shows its precision and intensity. Extremely refined bubbles form a lovely mousse in the mouth. Subtle fresh fruity – peach flavours escorts the lingering long silky and round aftertaste forming a great harmony. Amazingly enjoyable already, but will reach its peak in 6-8 years from now and will last for decades. Decant for 15 minutes and serve it 10-12C with grilled lobster and turbot. JL 97p (10/2019) (the commercial release of Cristal 2012 will be during the spring 2020)

 

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  • 97p
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Information

Origin

Reims, Champagne

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