1996 | Louis Roederer | Cristal Millesime Brut

Introduction

Sparkling Wine: 1996 | Louis Roederer | Cristal Millesime Brut

Its an incredibly expressive cuve, combining citrus fruits, biscuit and hazelnut notes, enmeshed in the creamy texture. A solid champagne with great structure for ageing.

Order from the Largest & Most Trusted Premium Spirits Marketplace!

Featured in

• ROLLING STONE
• MEN’S JOURNAL
• US WEEKLY

NOTICE: Many other small liquor store sites may end up cancelling your order due to the high demand, unavailability or inaccurate inventory counts. We have partnerships consisting of a large network of licensed retailers from within the United States, Europe and across the world ensuring orders are fulfilled.

Producer: Louis Roederer

Ratings: WA | 97 V | 97

Vintage: 1996

Size: 750ml

ABV: 12%

Varietal: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir

Country/Region: France, Champagne

Its an incredibly expressive cuve, combining citrus fruits, biscuit and hazelnut notes, enmeshed in the creamy texture. A solid champagne with great structure for ageing.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: Tasted at the IMW Louis Roederer tasting. Disgorged September 2006. A light silvery hue. The bouquet is still firmly in its first stages of evolution but unfurls in the glass, offering notes of clear honey, acacia, a touch of smoke, a hint of white peach and pink grapefruit. Gaining freshness and intensity with aeration. The palate is beautifully balanced with a bewitching sense of symmetry. Elegant and caressing towards the finish with touches of orange-blossom and apricot. Superb length. Wonderful.

• Vinous: The 1996 Cristal is another highlight in a tasting full of thrilling wines. Cristal is all about finesse, nuance and understatement, all of which come through in spades here. Hints of apricot jam and wild flowers are laced into the soft, super-expressive finish.

Producer Information

Louis Roederer is a well-regarded Champagne house based in the city of Reims and best-known for its flagship wine: Cristal. The house, established in the late 18th Century, is still family-owned, and produces a house style with equal amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, around one-fifth Pinot Meunier.
History: Although founded in 1776, the house in its current guise began in 1833, when Louis Roederer took the reins from his uncle and renamed the business for himself. Roederer set out to capture foreign markets, and most famously that of Russia; Roederer became the wine of choice for the Russian royal family. Cristal now one of the region’s top prestige cuves along with the likes of Dom Prignon (Mot), Belle poque (Perrier-Jouet), Comtes de Champagne (Taittinger) or Cuve Sir Winston Churchill (Pol Roger) was created for the notoriously paranoid Tsar Alexander II of Russia, who requested the bottle be clear and flat-bottomed to prevent hidden explosives. Louis Roederer acquired several grand cru vineyards in Champagne in 1845 to add to his portfolio. This was unusual for the time as the majority of houses were buying grapes from growers rather than cultivating their own. Today, the Roederer vineyards encompass around 240 hectares (600 acres) of land in the Montagne de Reims, Valle de la Marne and the Cte des Blancs. By 2012, around 25 percent of the vineyards were managed biodynamically (the 2012 Cristal is made from biodynamically farmed grapes).