In the glass
Aroma: candied lemon, white flowers, roasted hazelnut, Madagascar vanilla, fresh pastry
Palate: concentrated chalk, honed citrus, tension, aromatic precision
The original prestige cuvee, created for a tsar: zesty candied lemon and pollen over roasted hazelnut and vanilla, with incredible tension and a chalky, honed precision.
What it pairs with
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Langoustines
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Racy chalk and citrus precision flatter sweet shellfish. -
Turbot
Honed minerality and concentration frame fine white fish. -
Caviar
Saline tension and chalk meet the salt and richness of caviar.
History
Created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II in a clear lead-crystal bottle, Cristal is made only from estate vineyards, much of them now farmed biodynamically, and only in vintages judged worthy.
- 1876 — First Cristal created for Tsar Alexander II of Russia
- 2018 — House confirms Cristal sourced entirely from estate, largely biodynamic vineyards
Facts
- Producer
- Louis Roederer
- Grapes
- Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
- Classification
- AOC Champagne
- Oak
- Largely no malolactic; partial oak; estate, partly biodynamic fruit
- ABV
- 12.0%
- Price
- EUR 250 to 380 at retail
- Drinking window
- 8 to 30 from vintage
- First vintage
- 1876
Scores
- Decanter 97 (2013 vintage, reviewed 2022)