CRITIC REVIEWS
William Kelley
Aromas of clear honey, crisp green orchard fruit, white peach, pastry cream and dried white flowers introduce the 2012 Cristal, a full-bodied, concentrated and powerful wine thats built for the cellar. Broader, more textural and more muscular than the 2008 Cristal, with seemingly even greater reserves of structuring dry extract, the 2012 is incisive and searingly chalky. This is the first Cristal produced exclusively from organically farmed fruit, and it marks the opening of a new chapter for Louis Roderer. The blend is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, vinified without malolactic fermentation and disgorged with 7.5 grams per liter dosage. Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon has once again excelled himself.
Jancis Robinson
Disgorged in 2019, dosage 7.5 g/l. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, 32% of the cuvée is fermented in oak. Nine years spent on the lees. Amazingly challenging year with all the viticultural hazards possible, but a limited yield has brought concentration. First year Cristal was all organic. Seems quite broad compared with the precision of the 2013 but has a wonderful undertow. It’s a little bit of a brute. The 2013 alongside does no favours to this bigger wine. High-toned slightly candy notes, but obviously a very superior champagne.