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Roederer

Cristal, first created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II of Russia, is one of the most iconic wines of Champagne. Sometimes lost in the glamorous image the wine has acquired over its long history is the fact that Cristal also happens to be a serious Champagne that is capable of aging extraordinarily well. I recently sat down with Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon to survey a collection of vintages. The wines were grouped in pairs meant to represent Cristal in three distinct stages; mature, peak and young. This was an incredible opportunity to compare some of the legendary Cristals side by side, and to revisit a few personal favorites, like the 1979, which was one of the standouts in a recent horizontal tasting that included nearly all of that vintage's top wines. Lecaillon's goal with Cristal is to make an ageworthy Champagne that is fresh and floral when young, but that is also capable of considerable development with bottle age, qualities the finest Cristals have in spades. Unfortunately because of its rabid following the vast majority of Cristal is drunk upon release, which is ironic, if not downright tragic, considering Cristal is a wine that starts peaking around age 15-20, and that can last much longer under ideal storage conditions.
Much of Roederer's success with Cristal (and the other wines in the lineup) can be attributed to a reliance on 214 hectares of estate-owned vineyards that supply all of the top bottlings. In recent years the focus has been on consolidating plots within the best appellations as well as a move towards a more natural and sustainable approach to viticulture. Cristal is always a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sourced from the house's finest plots, with Pinot playing the leading role. For Cristal the Pinot comes mostly from Aÿ, Mareuil, Verzenay and Verzy, although on occasion a touch of Bouzy fruit is used as well. The Chardonnay is sourced from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Avize, a pretty impressive collection of villages, to say the least. In most vintages a portion of the wine is aged in oak, with frequent stirring of the lees, a technique used to give the wine an added dimension of richness. The exact amount of wood aging is a function of the qualities of the fruit each year. The estate takes a similar approach to malolactic fermentation, which may or may not take place, depending on the vintage. Dosage is generally around 12-13 grams. In recent years dosage has come down slightly as Lecaillon believes that today's weather conditions allow for better ripening than was possible in prior generations, and therefore the wines require less dosage. Roederer does not believe in a late-disgorged approach, but some bottles are kept on hand for tastings such as this one that have been disgorged relatively recently. Lecaillon says these bottles “preserve the memory of the vintage.” Recently disgorged bottles of Cristal see about 8 grams of dosage, which is quite a bit less than what is used for current releases. Fans of Cristal can look forward to vintages 2004, 2005 2006 and 2007. At this early stage it is too soon to tell, but 2008 will at the very least be a vintage year at Roederer.

From A Survey of Cristal: 1979-2002 (Jan 2009) by Antonio Galloni

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1979 Cristal

Color: Sparkling White

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