The 2012 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Chanpagne is a thrilling, dense new offering from this historic house. On the nose this takes on rich brioche and baked Pazzaz apple flavors that combine with lighter kumquat and marzipan tones that all meld in the glass. Fresh and vibrant, with a remarkably silky mousse, the weight and richness of this wine is impressive, while the bright character provides a wonderful foil. Rich layers of lemon zest dusted brioche with toasted hazelnut and Gravenstein apple with lighter vanilla cream and starfruit tones seamlessly combine on the palate. As several hours develop, the wine pieces itself together more magically with the intense citrus components melding with its weighty stature. Marvelous at this stage in its development, the 2012 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Chanpagne will have an exceedingly long life ahead of it. Try to give this at least another year of bottle development before savoring. Drink 2021-2040- 97 — 5 years ago
Tasted alongside barrel samples of the 2018 vintage. Still a baby, but such an expansive palate of cassis, sweet tobacco and violets. Pretty fascinating to explore how each individual parcel contributes to the final blend. Fruit for the ‘16 vintage is mostly from Dragon’s Terrace, Mt. Calisse and Corona vineyards. Such a great example of Rutherford terroir. — 5 years ago
Cherry all over; tart cherries, some pie spice, also lots of minerals, an herbal thing and bright lactic streak enlivening the bottle plus a quality I don’t know how to describe other than nymph-pond-water. Beautiful hazy ruby in the glass. Toeing the line with quite a lot of brett in this bottle though...a little distracting from the all the good here, so delicious overall. — 5 years ago
Ooh. This is a seriously seductive wine. An opulent nose with rich blue fruit, blood, hints of leather, soft cherry, some lifted floral notes on the nose. In that perfect window of maturity where there s all kinds of complexity but the fruit is still there, but settled. A gamey, meaty midpalate with mint and dried herbs. Plush and great motion from first taste to the end palate which is long with superb balance. Really great stuff — 5 years ago
Scott Soren
This is a baby brother that truly stands up on its own. The nose is like a wind swept field of raspberries. Black fruit and cassis drive the palate, with some tobacco rolled in. Medium acidity and long finish. Delicious — 5 years ago