Critic ratings
robert_parker
2000
Rating:
95
–95
Disgorged four years ago, with four grams per liter dosage, after a decade sur lattes and six years sur pointes, the 2000 Cristal Vinothèque bursts with notes of golden orchard fruit, mandarin, white flowers and iodine. Full-bodied, ample and powerful, with a deep and layered core, lively acids and a beautifully pearly mousse, it's a long, sapid Champagne that's showing very well today. As Lecaillon observes, the Vinothèque is the house's riposte to "everyone who says Cristal is released too young—with the Vinothèque releases, we've exaggerated the aging process to make Cristal more powerful and more dramatic." And this release is certainly a formidable effort in a vintage impacted by hail in the Montagne de Reims.
robert_parker
1999
Rating:
94
–94
Disgorged with six grams per liter dosage after seven years sur lattes and a further seven sur pointe, the 1999 Cristal Vinothèque wafts from the glass with a complex bouquet of dried fruits, clear honey and crushed chalk aromas, complemented by hints of iodine and woodsmoke. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and enveloping, with ripe but lively acids and a textural, gourmand profile, concluding with a beautifully defined, elegantly chalky finish.
robert_parker
1997
Rating:
95
–95
The 1997 Cristal Vinothèque spent 15 years sur lattes and four years sur pointes (where bottles are stored neck-down to minimize contact between the lees and the wine, as well as ensuring a hermetic seal to the bottle) before disgorgement. It has shown brilliantly both times I've encountered it this year, unwinding in the glass with scents of sweet citrus fruit, peach, spices, iodine and fresh bread. Medium to full-bodied, racy and incisive, it's a precise, chiseled wine with a deep core and a long, saline finish.
robert_parker
1996
Rating:
96
–96
Disgorged in 2011, the 1996 Cristal Vinothèque is fine, fresh and bright on the rather lean bouquet. The palate is pure, straight, incredibly fresh and racy, and the finish is pretty austere. The low dosage of six or seven grams per liter underlines the pure and aristocratic style of Cristal that is nevertheless dense, intense and complex and finishes with great tension and vibrant persistency. This blend is 60/40 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. No malolactic fermentation.
Since autumn 2017, there is another Cristal, the Cristal Vinothèque—aka "the other Cristal"—of which only "a few bottles" are released in a few, hand-selected markets. The late-release edition of Cristal has been 20 years in the making: 14 years sur latte (of which the wine is kept upside down only four years) and another seven years sur bouchon. "Twenty or so years is a good time lapse to show the best of Cristal." says Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon. He finds that aging sur latte and aging sur bouchon are both important and necessary but that they represent "two different dimensions of aging." Due to the fact that acidity rounds out with age, the dosage of the Cristal Vinothèque is significantly lower than the original disgorgement: in the case of the 1996, it's six to seven grams for the late release compared to 11 grams for the original Cristal. So, the Vinotheque is a completely new wine that is just based on the same material.
The 1995 Cristal Vinothèque was the inaugural vintage for both white and rosé, and it will be followed by the 1996 in September 2018 The 1997 and 1999 will follow in the coming years.
robert_parker
1996
Rating:
96
–96
The 1996 Cristal Vinothèque spent 10 years sur lattes and four years sur pointe (for an explanation of those terms, readers are directed to the accompanying article) before disgorgement. Opening in the glass with a complex bouquet of dried fruits, honeycomb, fresh butter, lemon oil, spices and smoke, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and integrated, its racy spine of vintage-typical acidity elegantly cloaked in crisp but fleshy fruit, with terrific concentration and a long, precise finish. Incisive and powerful, this is a 1996 Champagne that has turned out very well indeed.
robert_parker
1995
Rating:
96
–96
Disgorged in 2010 and re-launched in September 2017, Roederer's low dosed 1995 Cristal Vinothèque (dosage: six to seven grams per liter) is very intense on the nose and shows lovely maturity. Due to the vintage, which saw some rain in the summer, the Chardonnay part is a bit higher than usual (43% instead of 40%), with just 57% Pinot Noir (from Aÿ). Five percent of the wine was fermented in oak, and 15% underwent malolactic fermentation (only the Pinot Noir though). The palate is rich and vinous but also pure, straight and fresh, finishing with a tight structure, persistent minerality and a yeasty character. Tasted in Reims in May 2018.
Since September 2017, there is another Cristal: Vinothèque! With only "a few bottles" released in a few, hand-selected markets, the "other Cristal" is more than the late-release edition of Cristal. In fact, it has been 20 years in the making: 14 years sur latte and seven years sur bouchon. "Twenty or so years is a good time lapse to show the best of Cristal," says cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, who adds a significantly lower dosage to the Vinothèque than he did for the original Cristal. The 1995 is the inaugural vintage for both the white and rosé, and it will be followed by the 1996 (in September this year), 1997 and 1999.
robert_parker
1993
Rating:
89
–89
Newly released in magnum, the 1993 Cristal Vinothèque is a solid effort in a decidedly challenging vintage. Offering up aromas of waxy orchard fruit, coffee, macadamia nuts and dried white flowers, it's medium-bodied, racy and charming, albeit a little lean, without the power or seamless integration that characterize the best vintages of Cristal.
