Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé Vinotheque
Champagne, France
Vintage:1996 (Past)
1995 (Past) | 1999 (Past) | 2002 (Current)
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Reviews
Wine Enthusiast 97 Points
“This is a release of a Champagne that has been aged in the Roederer cellars for more than 20 years. Its rosé color has faded into old gold, but the fruit and texture are still extravagantly vibrant. The vintage, known at the time for its intense acidity, has aged well. That acidity still remains as does the strong mineral element. Now a touch of toast and maturity has been added to the complex texture. Drink this wine now.”
JamesSuckling.com 100 Points
“This has moved into a great place, offering the maximum range of characters. From the chalk-driven core emerges an array of spices, fresh mushrooms, white truffles, cocoa powder and dried, woody notes. There’s an explosive feel to the palate with spiced black cherries and plums. Intense acidity, raw and very powerful. The terroir is speaking loudly here. Smooth and fluid tannins offer some respite from the acidity at the finish. Drink or hold.”
Vinous Media 97+ Points
“Another positively stellar wine, 1996 Cristal Rosé Vinothèque is powerful, tightly wound and in need of considerable time in bottle to fully come together. Today, the fruit and the mid-palate are very, very shy. Whereas the Blanc is incredibly expressive today, the Rosé appears to be going through a reticent phase. This is the least accessible of the bottles I have tasted so far. Even so, the intensity and delineation of the flavors is just stunning. Cranberry, rose petal, mint and chalk open up in the glass, but the Rosé is above all else a Champagne of structure. The 1996 Cristal Rosé Vinothèque spent ten years on its lees, flat (sur latte), and another four years upside down (sur pointe), the first period to get a slight oxygenation, and the second to bring the wine back into a slightly reductive state. Dosage is 7 grams per liter, using a custom liqueur made from bottled wine and liqueur, as opposed to the Cristal from cask that is used for the first release of Cristal and Cristal Rosé. The 1996 Cristal Rosé is the first Champagne Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon blended at Roederer. That year, the pH was so low (2.82) that the malolactic fermentation should not have worked, but it did.”
The Wine Advocate 98+ Points
“Roederer's 1996 Cristal Rosé has always been described as one of the very best Champagnes, but now here is the perfection of perfection, the 1996 Cristal Vinothèque Rosé, a wine with an undefined color or, like the 1995, just a hint of color. And indeed, the 1996 remains a tight, tart and racy Cristal even though I would put it more gentle for the Vinothèque Rosé. Still a bit reductive on the deep, round and intense nose with its floral and vegetal fruit aromas, this is a pure and lean but also round and generous 1996 with a yeasty texture, brioche and pain-aux-raisin flavors and good fruit on the palate. Disgorged in 2011, after 14 years sur latte, it is now pure and salty, very fresh and firmly structured, revealing great vitality and tension in the long, complex finish. If only I could have spent more time with the wine...”
Overview
Cristal Vinothèque 1996 celebrates the astonishing story of a very small number of bottles, stored in the Louis Roederer cellars for 20 years in the quest for perfect harmony. The 1996 vintage is the reflection of this very classic year in Champagne. The weather conditions created an exceptionally elegant wine structured by a lovely acidity and remarkable aromatic complexity. Its perfectly balanced maturity and well-integrated flavours have been brought out even further by the Côte des Blancs Chardonnays and a small proportion of Pinots noirs grown in chalky soil.
Winemaking
This cuvée is bottle-aged for 10 years before being left to rest for a further 10 years after disgorging.
Tasting Notes
Light rose gold hue with delicate copper tints. The bubbles are fine, steady and remarkably delicate. Complex bouquet combining dried fruit, hazelnuts and cocoa beans with intense, concentrated notes of lemon. A long period of lees ageing has imparted notes of sugared almonds and roasted pine nuts. The nose reveals delicate, velvety red fruit notes and a hint of raspberry liqueur. On the palate the wine is generous, serene and silky-smooth. The freshness of the limestone comes to the fore and transforms the texture into a veritable kaleidoscope of sensations and aromas. Roasted, smoky and almost malty notes blend with a profound freshness and intense, concentrated yet delicate notes of lemon and umami.
Harvest Notes
After a cold, grey winter, 1996 was characterized by low rainfall throughout the growing cycle. This drought caused all of the Champagne varietals, especially the Chardonnay, to produce small grapes. This resulted in low yields which aided ripening and fruit concentration. September was relatively cool yet very sunny, with a few rainy spells which enabled the grapes to ripen well and develop high levels of sugar and acidity. The traditional grape tasting at harvest time astonished us all as, in addition to the excellent sugar-acidity balance, we had small, concentrated berries with an aromatic maturity rarely seen in Champagne. All of the criteria for a “vintage” year were confirmed on the 21 September when harvesting began.
Technical Information
Varietals: 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay