Roederer Cristal Full Circle: 1993-2015
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
My visit to Roederer a few months ago, the first post-COVID-19, was memorable. After a survey of the 2022 vins clairs, longtime Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon presented a vertical of every Cristal he has made and released since assuming his current role in 1999. It was an incredibly instructive tasting that encompassed several themes over what has arguably been the most significant period in Roederer’s long history.
Sitting down to taste through a remarkable vertical of
Cristal.
We started with a comparison of the original release and late disgorged Vinothèque Cristals across the 1999, 2000 and 2002 vintages, something I had never done before. Vinothèque was one of the first projects Lécaillon took charge of after being appointed Chef de Caves. “It’s the same story, my story, the Roederer story, the story of so many families here,” Lécaillon explained. “Baby steps after baby steps, confirmed. Proof of concept, then go to the next level. It takes time. It’s an organic journey that took me twenty years. I don’t want to move too quickly in a new direction because I respect tradition as well. I am always working on finding new approaches that don’t kill what has been done in the past.”
Lécaillon re-introduced oak fermentation for some lots and experimented with various closures. “I did some trials with cork; that was my idea in the beginning,” he elaborated. “Cork adds creaminess, but it doesn’t give the precision of Cristal. So, we use stainless steel crown caps. Then, after ten years, I put the wines sur pointe to avoid excessive oxidation.”
Taking a close look at the wines in pairs was incredibly educational, as readers will see in perusing the notes. The influence of time on the lees, dosage and disgorgement dates was evident in each of the wines.
My visit to Roederer a few months ago, the first post-COVID-19, was memorable. After a survey of the 2022 vins clairs, longtime Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon presented a vertical of every Cristal he has made and released since assuming his current role in 1999. It was an incredibly instructive tasting that encompassed several themes over what has arguably been the most significant period in Roederer’s long history.
