Today, I'm happy to celebrate Roederer's Cristal with a concise list of some of my favorite vintages in magnum and three-liter.
Bottles of Cristal have blown me away too many times to count.
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It's easy to imagine that Cristal's status as a luxury item obscures just how great it can be. It also obscures Roederer's progressive philosophy, which is often overlooked. Roederer is the largest organic and biodynamic vineyard owner in Champagne.
Every element of producing great Champagne is approached at Roederer with the utmost care and thoughtfulness. This attention to detail really shows.
The 1996 Cristal is one of the absolute highlights of the vintage. The combination of sleek elegance and nimble grace is magical. I'm very confident that the 2008 will go down as one of the greatest vintages of Cristal in the past forty years. The 2008 is all about purity, harmony, and an energetic structure. It's a Cristal that's simply mind-blowing.
The 2009 flaunts the maison's extroverted and suavely textured signature. There's an amazing layered, multifaceted complexity while being outrageously balanced.
The 2013 Cristal captures much of what we love about the vintage: a vintage of finesse, subtlety, and incredible purity. To this, the 2013 Cristal adds its signature extroverted and suavely textured layers of complexity. The combination of sleek finesse and depth is compelling.
Before closing, I should mention that the transformation that Cristal undergoes as it ages is amazing, especially in large formats.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare
Crush Wine & Spirits
