Area under vines: 214 hectares
Wines Vineyard Holdings:
The 2012 Cristal is the first made entirely from biodynamically farmed vineyards. Passionfruit, mango, spice and ginger open first, but it is the wine s textural richness and volume that stand out most. The 2012 is one of the most opulent, flamboyant recent Cristals. Those qualities feel especially amplified in this tasting, perhaps because of the presence of wines from the surrounding vintages. It was a complicated season, as mildew reduced yields significantly, resulting in an especially rich Cristal that seems to be gaining intensity with time in bottle. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: 2020.
Anticipated maturity: 2023-2052
Disgorged in 2019, dosage 7.5 g/l. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, 32% of the cuvee is fermented in oak. Nine years spent on the lees. Amazingly challenging year with all the viticultural hazards possible, but a limited yield has brought concentration. First year Cristal was all organic. Seems quite broad compared with the precision of the 2013 but has a wonderful undertow. It s a little bit of a brute. The 2013 alongside does no favours to this bigger wine. High-toned slightly candy notes, but obviously a very superior champagne.
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2034
Aromas of clear honey, crisp green orchard fruit, white peach, pastry cream and dried white flowers introduce the 2012 Cristal, a full-bodied, concentrated and powerful wine that’s built for the cellar. Broader, more textural and more muscular than the 2008 Cristal, with seemingly even greater reserves of structuring dry extract, the 2012 is incisive and searingly chalky. This is the first Cristal produced exclusively from organically farmed fruit, and it marks the opening of a new chapter for Louis Roderer. The blend is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, vinified without malolactic fermentation and disgorged with 7.5 grams per liter dosage. Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon has once again excelled himself.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2050
