In 1974, almost 200 years after the establishment of the Champagne house of Louis Roederer and 100 years after the creation of Cristal, Jean-Claude Rouzaud decided to create the Cristal Rosé cuvée. To achieve this, he selected old-vine pinot noir grapes (using massale selection, which involves propagation from the vineyard’s most successful plants) from the finest grand cru vineyards at Aÿ.

The limestone bedrock and unique calcareous clay soil enable the vines (in the best years) to attain exceptional fruit maturity, complemented by a pure and crystalline acidity that is a perfect evocation of the Cristal style. Today, the vineyards are cultivated according to biodynamic principles. 

Over the years, Louis Roederer has developed a unique method for the production of its rosé champagnes. This process, referred to by Roederer as the ‘infusion’ technique, allows the winemaking team to extract the juicy, ripe character of the pinot noirs whilst preserving their exceptional freshness. A small amount of chardonnay juice is added to the pinot noir maceration which then ferment together and integrate harmoniously.

Cristal Rosé 2002 was aged on its lees for 7 years before being matured for a further 8 years in bottle after its disgorgement in 2010. The dosage is 9 g/l.

The bouquet is intense, powerful and incredibly youthful. 8 years after its disgorgement, the Cristal Rosé 2002 is still bursting with fresh, fruity aromas. Its soft, smooth notes of fresh fruits and candied citrus intertwine with more floral notes such as rose as well as smokey notes, cocoa, spice and cinnamon. The wine is juicy, fleshy and succulent on entry. Dense, concentrated and powdery texture with a smooth, juicy mouthfeel, chalky freshness and a saline finish that gives it a distinctive, ethereal, long and very pure style.

An extraordinary year with all the qualities of an exceptional vintage in Champagne: consistently warm temperatures yet without excessive sunshine or heat, a particularly mild winter, slightly less rainfall than average during the growing cycle (20% less), cool nights and a cool, dry northeast wind in August and September. These exceptional conditions resulted in optimum ripeness levels in the grapes and good concentration of flavour. The harvesting began on September 12 for the chardonnays which were displaying an average sugar concentration of over 11% in natural alcohol.