1999 Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne

Ultimate Luxury Champagne

About the Wine Long the darling of Kings and celebrities, Roederer’s Cristal bottling showcases the best of Champagne. The wine is robust, rich, and yeasty--aromas of fresh croissants, baked white peach, meyer lemon and cream come together in a Cristal worthy of its Tête-de-Cuvée status. Already glowing with incredible complexity and consistently high ratings from critics, this is a truly stellar bottling that combines Roederer’s own vineyards with the best growers in the region to make a stellar Champagne.

After two decades of cellaring, these bubbles are showing gorgeous purity of fruit and distinct minerality, and this wine is only going to get better in the next twenty years. A combination of not one or two, but SEVEN Grand-Cru vineyards, including some of Roederer’s estate vineyards, the 1999 is a remarkable Champagne. Expertly blended with 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, the 1999 bottling showcases the chalky soils of Champagne, which remain unclouded by malolactic fermentation. Reviews One of the finest Champagnes I have ever brought to my lips, the 1999 Cristal bursts from the glass with fresh hazelnut and apple scents. Elegant, deep, and silky-textured, this medium to full-bodied beauty is immensely concentrated, pure, packed with apple flavors, and astoundingly long in the finish. ~98WA

From the family collection, disgorged ten years after harvest, slightly lower than original dosage. A warm year, the hottest since 1959 at the time, this has high ripeness and plenty of spice, a touch reductive, gentle citrus peel and some candied tropical fruits, clear chalk, dried honey and brioche too. The palate has a compression to it, smooth and finely layered texture here. Complex and textural Champagne. ~97 JS