1999 Champagne Louis Roederer, Cristal, Brut
Critics reviews
Dosage is 9 grams per liter. Disgorged: 2006.
The 1999 Cristal is very pretty. It’s a rare Cristal vintage with a bit more Chardonnay than the norm. Apricot, spice, ginger, hazelnut and exotic tropical fruits all open with some aeration. The 1999 shows good depth and density, but it is hard to get past some of the angular contours that remain.
Drink 2023 - 2033
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (December 2023)
The exceptional maturity of the harvest (lowest acidity since 1959), along with the quality and quantity was reminiscent of great vintages like 1970 and 1982. In the Côte des Blancs, grape harvesting began on 14 September, while in the Marne Valley, Louis Roederer started two days before everyone else. Average degree levels varied between 10 and 12.5 °C, and the grapes were beautifully healthy.
In the Montagne de Reims, everything began on 20 September. During this time, the more abundant plots continued to ripen. Yields from the vineyards of Verzenay and Verzy were close to record levels. As in the Côte des Blancs, weather conditions in August and early September made quality compatible with high yield, thus promising a great vintage. Disgorged 2011. 57% Pinot Noir. Dosage 8 g/l with the same wine.
Lovely richness on the nose with real spread of crème pâtissière but very tight and refreshing too. Very satisfying. At peak and very flattering. Long and fresh. Spreads opulently but not dully across the palate. So complete. Such lovely neatness.
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (February 2014)
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. Louis Roederer does not display a disgorgement date or consumer friendly lot number on its non-vintage Brut. This is regrettable as it has consistently been one of the finer bottlings in this category.
Pierre Rovani, Wine Advocate (December 2005)
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, some flesh and some succulent texture, generous dried red cherry fruit flavours pressed together with layers of more savoury autolysis. Complex and textural Champagne.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (March 2012)
About this WINE
Louis Roederer
Founded in 1776, Louis Roederer is a family-owned, independent Champagne house with a well-deserved reputation for quality. It is managed by Frédéric Rouzaud, the seventh generation to be at the helm.
In 1876, Louis Roederer created the now-famous Cristal at the request of Alexander II. This once intensely sweet wine is now one of the most luscious, deeply flavoured champagnes available, with the '88, '89 and '90 among the greatest Cristals ever released.
Louis Roederer’s best-selling non-vintage blend for almost 40 years, Brut Premier, has recently been replaced by Collection 242. This new multi-vintage blend was created by Chef du Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon in response to increasingly warm vintages. The cuvée aims to capture freshness and is based on a perpetual reserve which focuses on acidity and minerality.
Brut Champagne
Brut denotes a dry style of Champagne (less than 15 grams per litre). Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend from different years. The non-vintage blend is always based predominately on wines made from the current harvest, enriched with aged wines (their proportion and age varies by brand) from earlier harvests, which impart an additional level of complexity to the end wine. Champagnes from a single vintage are labelled with the year reference and with the description Millésimé.
Non-vintage Champagnes can improve with short-term ageing (typically two to three years), while vintages can develop over much longer periods (five to 30 years). The most exquisite and often top-priced expression of a house’s style is referred to as Prestige Cuvée. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, and Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill.
Recommended Producers : Krug, Billecart Salmon, Pol Roger, Bollinger, Salon, Gosset, Pierre Péters, Ruinart
Champagne blend
Which grapes are included in the blend, and their proportion, is one of the key factors determining the style of most Champagnes. Three grapes are used - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.
26% of vineyards in Champagne are planted with Chardonnay and it performs best on the Côtes des Blancs and on the chalk slopes south of Epernay. It is relatively simple to grow, although it buds early and thus is susceptible to spring frosts. It produces lighter, fresher wines than those from Burgundy and gives finesse, fruit and elegance to the final blend. It is the sole grape in Blancs de Blancs, which are some of the richest long-lived Champagnes produced.
Pinot Noir accounts for nearly 40% of the plantings in Champagne and lies at the heart of most blends - it gives Champagne its body, structure, strength and grip. It is planted across Champagne and particularly so in the southern Aube district.
The final component is Pinot Meunier and this constitutes nearly 35% of the plantings. Its durability and resistance to spring frosts make the Marne Valley, a notorious frost pocket, its natural home. It ripens well in poor years and produces a soft, fruity style of wine that is ideal for blending with the more assertive flavours of Pinot Noir. Producers allege that Pinot Meunier lacks ageing potential, but this does not deter Krug from including around 15% of it in their final blends.
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Description
Dosage is 9 grams per liter. Disgorged: 2006.
The 1999 Cristal is very pretty. It’s a rare Cristal vintage with a bit more Chardonnay than the norm. Apricot, spice, ginger, hazelnut and exotic tropical fruits all open with some aeration. The 1999 shows good depth and density, but it is hard to get past some of the angular contours that remain.
Drink 2023 - 2033
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (December 2023)
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