2007 Champagne Louis Roederer, Cristal, Brut

2007 Champagne Louis Roederer, Cristal, Brut

Product: 20071082542
Wine Advocate95/100
Prices start from £1,584.00 per case Buying options
2007 Champagne Louis Roederer, Cristal, Brut

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
Case format
Availability
Price per case
6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £1,584.00
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX
Place a bid

Description

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.

Jean-Baptiste, Cristal’s Cellar Master, tells me that there are two types of Cristal, this is due to Champagne’s location right on the watershed between a continental climate and a maritime climate: a continental vintage leads to Pinot Noir flourishing, whereas Chardonnay loves a maritime-dominated year. In 2007 Chardonnay flourished in a year that had a long, cool growing season. The result is a wine with wonderful purity, reminiscent of the finest blanc de blancs. You are greeted by a nose of nougat, with hints of white chocolate and just a touch of lemon. The palate is a pure, fine expression of Champagne, a tiniest hint of redcurrant that then steps aside to allow the main characters of lemon, apple and pear to come through. Harmonious and fine.

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews
Wine Advocate95/100
Jean-Baptiste Lcaillon calls Cristal the first terroir cuve of the Champagne. He furthers, Its not just Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, but the chalk that brings the ultimate finesse, length and precision of Cristal. Forty-five blocks with averaging age of 43-years-old, low-yielding vines form the base of Cristal, which is usually made of approximately 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. Due to an early bud break (end of March) and the wet summer, the 2007 was picked at the end of August, so almost 100 days after the flowering instead of the normal 93-95 days. There is a bit less Pinot Noir than usual (57%) and accordingly, more Chardonnay (43%) in the 2007 Cristal. This Champagne comes along in a golden color and with a deep and matured, yet well-defined bouquet of ripe yellow fruits and honey notes. Full-bodied, round and very complex, the generous 2007 is a perfect mix of ripe fruit and precise minerality. It is a silky textured, pure and precise, as well as powerful and expressive Champagne. It has great tension and grip in the very long and persistent finish. Great expression of chalk. The 2007 was disgorged in 2015. The 2009 is to be released in September; the 2008 won't be in the market earlier than January 2018. Neither a 2010 nor a 2011 will be released, but a 2012.
Stephan Reinhardt - 30/06/2016 Read more

About this WINE
Louis Roederer

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.

Find out more
Brut Champagne

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


Find out more
Champagne blend

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.


Find out more