1997 | Louis Roederer | Cristal Millesime Brut

Very fresh, complex nose combines soft citrus fruits, toast and minerals, with hints of red berries. Penetrating, bright and very intense, with powerful citrus and mineral flavors that turn sweeter toward the back end. The chewy finish of pear and hazelnut really stains the palate.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: Aromatically demure, the rich, full-bodied 1997 Brut is densely packed with ripe pears and apples as well as toast. This is an exceptionally vinous Champagne that could easily replace a white Burgundy in food pairings. Louis Roederer does not display a disgorgement date or consumer friendly lot number on its non-vintage Brut. This is regrettable as it has consistently been one of the finer bottlings in this category.

• Wine Enthusiast: In its famous clear bottle, this is one of the best known prestige cuvées, and also the oldest, made first in 1876 for the Russian Tsars.This most recent vintage is a very fine wine in a great tradition, revealing elegance, flavors of red fruits and impressive complexity from the blending. The aftertaste is extraordinary, going on seemingly into the distant horizon.

Producer Information

Louis Roederer is a well-regarded Champagne house based in the city of Reims and best-known for its flagship wine: Cristal. The house, established in the late 18th Century, is still family-owned, and produces a house style with equal amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, around one-fifth Pinot Meunier.
History: Although founded in 1776, the house in its current guise began in 1833, when Louis Roederer took the reins from his uncle and renamed the business for himself. Roederer set out to capture foreign markets, and most famously that of Russia; Roederer became the wine of choice for the Russian royal family. Cristal – now one of the region's top prestige cuvées along with the likes of Dom Pérignon (Moët), Belle Époque (Perrier-Jouet), Comtes de Champagne (Taittinger) or Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill (Pol Roger) – was created for the notoriously paranoid Tsar Alexander II of Russia, who requested the bottle be clear and flat-bottomed to prevent hidden explosives. Louis Roederer acquired several grand cru vineyards in Champagne in 1845 to add to his portfolio. This was unusual for the time as the majority of houses were buying grapes from growers rather than cultivating their own. Today, the Roederer vineyards encompass around 240 hectares (600 acres) of land in the Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs. By 2012, around 25 percent of the vineyards were managed biodynamically (the 2012 Cristal is made from biodynamically farmed grapes).

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