2002 | Louis Roederer | Cristal Brut Champagne

Harmonious and refined, with freshness and a bright structure. The finish shows a lot of potential, with a mouthwatering aftertaste.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The nose of the 2002 Cristal shows a deep, ripe and elegant fruit with aromas of white chocolate, wet chalk, wild vanilla and pepper (typical for 2002) as well as terroir-driven truffle notes. Intense and very elegant in the mouth, this is a ripe, rich and concentrated yet also pure and vital Cristal with great finesse, elegance and mineral complexity. It's a sublime Champagne right now, although it's more wine than Champagne.

• James Suckling: A re-release of the original 2010 disgorgement. Super fine, super fresh and super savory aromas of chalky stones with hints of flowers, white almonds, lemon peel and grapefruit. The palate has intense, mouth-filling, lemon-curd flavor. Very powerful, very concentrated and very expressive. Smooth finish that’s full of life, leaving a bright, white cherry note.

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. 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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