Cristal champagne is the product of a French wine company by the name Louis Roederer, located northeast of Paris. As its name suggests, Cristal champagne is one of the most expensive wines in the world.
One may ask, why is Cristal champagne so expensive? The answer is the quality of grapes used, and the method of making it.
This kind of champagne is not made every year. It’s only made when there are grapes of the right quality.
The grapes are then hand-picked, then carefully blended and aged for a perfect aroma and taste. This production process is slow and lengthy making it very expensive to the final consumer.
The fact that it attracts wealthy consumers also makes Cristal champagne expensive as it’s viewed as an expression of flamboyance.
This article seeks to shed light on the history of Cristal champagne and recent Cristal vintages available to wine lovers.
History of Louis Roederer’s Cristal Champagne
To start with, is the history of Cristal champagne. While most link its name to the Tsars, the real history of Cristal links to the relationship between Louis Roederer, and the Russian aristocracy, specifically Czar Alexander II.
Alexander was a big fan of Roederer’s white wine, that he requested him to make one customized for the royal family.
To meet royal standards, Roederer created sweet champagne called Cristal. He made it by elaborately mixing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes from the Cote des Blancs, Valley de la Marne and Montagne de Reims.
These are regions known for producing the best Pinot Noir grapes in the world. Roederer then packaged the wine in bottles made of clear crystal.
This not only, made the Cristal champagne bottle stand out from the rest, it also earned it a reputation amongst the very top cream in society.
Despite its royal appeal in the 1800s, Cristal’s first commercially available vintage came in 1945. This attracted a lot of attention from the novella rich further pushing up its price.
Cristal Champagne Recent Vintages Reviews & Prices
Recent vintages of Cristal include the 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007 vintages. Below is a look at a number of recent Cristal vintages.
Louis Roederer Cristal Brut 2002
Experts rating: 97 points
Alcohol: 12.0 %
Avg Price: $308.00
Cristal Brut Vintage 2002 keeps up with the Roederer Cristal champagne tradition. It has a perfect balance between concentration and subtlety, intensity and sophistication, bloom and vinosity.
Cristal Brut 2002 comes in yellow ocher and a lovely mousse of fine cordon with persistent and unvarying bubbles. Cristal Brut 2002 also has a penetrating and subtle nose.
This serves to reveal a clean and well blended mixture of savors of honey, frivolously crisped hazelnuts, cocoa and glacé citrus fruits.
On top of all that, this Cristal 2002 champagne is finished with a hint of sullenness, making it crusty. It expresses class and elegance in its truest meaning, all at a cost of $289.00.
Louis Roederer Cristal Rose 2002
Experts rating: 95 points
Alcohol: 12.0 %
Avg Price: $575.00
The Cristal Rose 2002 is a salmon pink shade, which looks amazingly young. It’s a mouth watering garland of red fruit and citrus relish.
Its aroma gets captivating, as it progresses from dried fruits, fresh almonds and frangipane to notes of Tarte Tatin, fruit mousses and over-baked apples.
All of this makes Cristal Rose 2002 exceptionally lax and unctuous on the palate. Its taste is a combination of fruit and subtlety creating a penchant that melts in the mouth.
That’s not all; the Cristal Rose 2002 captures all the exceptional physiognomies of the vintage 2002. This makes the vintage rose 2002 a perfect balance of passion and refinement, concentration and subtlety, richness and sparkle.
All this excellence in winemaking comes to you at $499.00 a bottle.
Louis Roederer Cristal Brut 2004
Experts rating: 96 points
Alcohol: 12.0 %
Avg Price: $233.00
Sipping the Cristal Brut 2004, one is quickly reminded of the classic 1988, in its willowy freshness.
This makes the Cristal Brut 2004 stand out as a classic of northern champagne that puts together oomph, sparkle, and mineral eminence.
What makes the Cristal Brut 2004 stand out is its meticulousness, limpidness and unique harmony. These are qualities attributable to Roederer wines which are in best champagne Grand Cru Terroirs.
The Cristal Brut 2004 comes in bright yellow that echoes light amber tinges combined with a fine, an indulgent sparkle.
Its nose is highly penetrating and expressive. It gives a sophisticated aroma, which serves to tell of the Chardonnay exactitude.
That is, white fruit, sweet pollen, citrus fruit and unadulterated mineral content. One sip gives an incredibly full and velvety taste, revealing a sturdy fruit concentration.
A bottle of Cristal Brut vintage goes for $ 229.00, and one gets to enjoy this harmonious, silky wine.
Louis Roederer Cristal Rose 2004
Experts rating: 98 points
Alcohol: 12.0 %
Avg Price: $531.00
The Cristal Rose 2004 is racy, defined and well-adjusted. It comes in pallid pink, with slight orange sparkles.
Its bouquet is mild and subtle, with classy fruitiness, invigorating hints and juicer dissimilarities such as vine peach. The taste of the Cristal Rose 2004 is early, spring like and peppy, but is based on very mineral sparkle.
On taking the second bite of Cristal Rose 2004, one gets a taste of vivacious notes and meticulous aromatic purity. A bottle of the Cristal Rose 2004 goes for $529.00.
Conclusion
Clearly, Louis Roederer Cristal champagne wine house is driven by class and elegance. The wines are developed to pinpoint precision to get you a wonderful bouquet of Champagne.
Cristal champagne balances freshness and aging, creating nice effervescent bubbles when opened.
As you sip Cristal champagne, one thing becomes clear. There is a rich creamy taste of fruits, minerals and crisp acidity.
Whereas this may vary between the different years, Cristal Champagne has uniformity in flavor and its silkiness on the palate.
Grab yourself a bottle of Cristal champagne today. Why not treat yourself or your loved one to a wine of the novella rich.
The cream of the celebrity world adores Cristal champagne. Besides, you can buy one and keep it as a souvenir for your offspring’s.
After all, the more aged the wine is the better. Get yourself Cristal Champagne today, and feel the smoother side of life.
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