“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.”

“The most compelling rendition of this bottling that Roederer has produced to date, the 2015 Brut Nature exhibits inviting aromas of golden orchard fruit, clear honey, dried white flowers and wet stones. Medium to full-bodied, layered and vinous, with a fleshy, concentrated core of fruit, chalky structure and a long, precise finish, it's a Pinot Noir-dominant blend from Cumières that's slightly lower in pressure, making for a more delicate mousse.”

“To produce the 2015 Brut Nature Rosé, Lécaillon and his team picked the ripest Pinot Noir in Roederer's holdings in lieu-dit Les Chèvres a week before the rest of their fruit there, macerating it at low temperature for four to five days before adding some 20% of this Pinot Noir to the same base that produces the regular Brut Nature. Delivering aromas of peach, clear honey, freshly baked bread and almond paste, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a rich, vinous profile, racy acids and a long, chalky finish. This has always been a structured wine, but in 2015, that structure is cloaked in more flesh and texture.”

“Based on the 2018 vintage and complemented by reserve wines from a solera established in 2012, as well as younger foudre-aged reserve wines, Roederer's newly released NV Brut Collection 243 is a pillowy, enveloping Champagne evocative of crisp stone fruits, honeycomb, white flowers and buttery pastry. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and generous, with an ample core of fruit, bright acids and a saline finish, it will offer demonstrative drinking on release.”

“Still young, with toast aromas and shining white-fruit flavors, the latest release of Cristal is just setting out. A dry, tight core of intense flavors are shot through with minerality from the pure chalk soil of the 45 individual parcels in the blend. Drink this wine from 2025. Organic.”