98pts Wine Enthusiast - Cellar Selection

This iconic Champagne, first made in the 19th century for the Tsar of Russia, shows its typical stunning balance and poise between richness and concentration. It has a pure white fruit and honeysuckle aroma and tight, tangy fresh fruit flavors. Just ready to drink, the wine will age well, for at least 20 years. Organic. 

98pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2016 Champagne Cristal is transparent and complex, with lovely aromas of fresh flowers. Medium-bodied and chiseled, with great texture, well-defined saltiness, and delicate notes of shortbread, it’s a shimmering and electric wine with fantastic detail. It has a concentrated, chalky profile and is flush with crushed stones. It will demand some patience, but this is a fantastic wine in this vintage for Cristal. Bravo.

98pts James Suckling

This has wonderfully pure fruit aromas, such as peaches, Asian pears and golden apples, alongside lemon curd, gingerbread, chalk and jasmine. Rock salt and oyster shells follow on the palate, which is so seamless that you scarcely notice the super-fine bubbles. It’s concentrated yet gentle at the same time, with impressive resolution and integration of all components. Salty and creamy at the very-long finish. Fantastic! 58% pinot noir and 42% chardonnay. Drink or hold.

96pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The finest rendition since 2013, the 2016 Cristal has turned out beautifully. A vintage that Lecaillon describes as “difficult in the vineyards but beautiful in the cellar,” it had suffered slightly in reputation due to the gloomy mood during the challenging growing season, but the results are indeed impressive. The fifth edition produced entirely from organically farmed and certified fruit, and heavily based on Pinot Noir, the 2016 represents the contemporary quality of Cristal, combining the concentration of 2002 with the precision and cut of 2013. Disgorged in July 2024 with a dosage of seven grams per liter, it opens in the glass to reveal a bouquet of lemon zest, white flowers and peeled almond, framed by youthful reduction. On the palate, it is bright and electric, with a pure core of fruit, pinpoint mousse and a textural attack, concluding with a long, saline finish. Drink it alongside the 2015, and it will illuminate its clarity and integration.

96pts Wine Spectator

This leads with pronounced minerality on the nose, but then a bright burst of tangerine, blood orange and Meyer lemon flavors on the palate hold sway, joined by rich hints of crème de cassis, toast point, pastry cream and crystallized honey. Showing beautiful integration and a refined, lacy mousse, this is compact and statuesque, with a sense of restraint and the hint of more to come, while at the same time offering lovely expression in the glass today. Fresh and focused on the persistent finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Drink now through 2044. 8,300 cases imported.

Tasting Notes

Bright, shiny yellow hue. Magnificent fine, slow-moving bubbles. The bouquet is intense, deep and precise, combining scents of white flowers (acacia), concentrated, roasted citrus (lemons) and ripe yellow fruit (peaches, mirabelle plums). After a few minutes, subtle iodised, powdery and roasted overtones emerge, the result of the autolysis of the yeasts during the “sur lattes” ageing process.

On the palate, there is an immediate impression, soft and delicate, more accessible than ever! It is like a zabaglione with concentrated, juicy and ripe fruit, the hallmark of the great Pinot noirs from the heatwave in 2016 with their soft, caressing texture derived from the chalky soil in which they grow.

The bubbles are tactile, perfectly integrated and almost salty. Wheat and oyster shell notes are the signature of the slow and late ripening great Chardonnays. The substance is there, powdery, grainy and deliciously chocolatey. We are very close to having the “ideal” balance, the wine is crisp, saline and iodised, with a long, chalky, crystalline finish that lingers and builds to a crescendo.

The overall impression is one of refinement, sapidity and purity... like the infinite grace of an opera ballerina. Cristal 2016 is pure, delicate and concentrated. It is the perfect, eloquent “Grand Cristal”: 50% sun (ripe, juicy Pinot noirs) and 50% soil (chalky, saline Chardonnays). It is similar to the 2002, 2008 and 2012, but with an even longer, more precise and concentrated character.

Vintage Notes

2016 resulted in an unexpected and unprecedented harmony, a balance that is ideal for Cristal, combining its sunny nature with its terrestrial roots. This subtle interplay between sky and earth thus reflects a perfect proportion between the intensity of the aromas forged by the summer heat, the vibrations of the wine, and its juicy, saline weave, nourished by the unique chalky and limestone-rich soils.

Cristal 2016 is a return to the near-perfect balance of those mature, well-honed years, following in the footsteps of Champagne's finest vintages – such as the fabulous and unforgettable 2002, 2008 and 2012 - with a new and exciting rendition. This vintage gifted us pure, well-structured wines, further elevated by supreme freshness and precision.

Wine Notes

Cristal Champagne is called “Cristal” because it was originally created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II of Russia, who requested a luxury champagne bottled in clear lead-crystal glass rather than the usual dark bottles so he could see the wine and ensure no hidden explosives. The transparent, flat-bottomed bottle (another safety feature) became the wine’s defining look, and the French word cristal (“crystal”) remained as the name to reflect both the material and the cuvée’s elite origins.

Winery Notes

In 1845, Louis Roederer acquired 15 hectares in the Grand Cru vineyards of Verzenay. The idea—which was quite unusual at a time when grapes had little value—was to become a wine grower in order to master the entire process of creating his vintage wines. Ever since, every Louis Roederer vintage originates exclusively from our own vines, which is rare indeed in the Champagne region. The quest for a diversity of terroirs, crus, parcels, and grape varieties in the vineyards (or climats to use the Burgundian expression) was rapidly integrated by the House of Louis Roederer. A groundbreaking strategy was implemented, which involved buying specific parcels selected for their capacity to produce distinctive wines. This strategy is still a core component of the House’s continuing development.

In 2024, Louis Roederer’s vineyards stretched across 250 hectares and include 420 parcels.

Blend: 58% Pinot Noir, 42% Chardonnay

Organic