Champagne Louis Roederer has recently launched the 2013 vintage of its iconic cuvée, Cristal. 

The top-end expression from the champagne house was introduced with a virtual presentation on the new release by Louis Roederer cellar master, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon.

Describing the Champagne as chalky, precise, salty and bright, as well as fleshy and ripe, he said the wine had a perfect natural balance and “lots of ageing potential”, noting that it was a textbook expression of Cristal.

Remarking on his aim for the top-end cuvée, he said, “Cristal is about the white soil and the sunshine, and my aim is to reach 50:50; 50% chalk and 50% sunshine, and this is right on the middle, the target has been met”. By this, he means that the chalky soils of the Cristal vineyards bring salinity and brightness to the Champagne, while the sun provides flesh and fruitiness.

 Comparing the latest vintage release to other harvests used for Cristal, he said that “the 2012 had a bit more sunshine, and the 2008 a bit more white soil”. Following the 2012 variant, the 2013 is the second vintage of Cristal that uses 100% biodynamically-farmed grapes from the Louis Roederer estate in Champagne. 

Furthermore, the 2013 season was not without any problems, with Lécaillon saying the “complicated” season was due to lower yields in the vines, which required a strict selection in specific sites for the Pinot Noir component, production was down around 20-30% compared to the 2008 release. 

“2013 was characterised by a particularly late growing cycle. A seemingly endless winter was followed by a very cool, late spring. We had to wait until the start of July for flowering to begin – something we hadn’t seen in Champagne for quite some time. Fortunately, summer was glorious with plenty of sunshine, record high temperatures and very low rainfall, ideal for the ripening of the Pinot noirs and Chardonnays. The temperatures were cool for the October harvest, and the resulting wines are elegant and fresh – the signs of a ‘classic’ vintage.”

Lécaillon also said that the Champagne would reach an optimum expression around 15-20 years after the harvest, suggesting that the Cristal 2013 would benefit significantly from further cellaring to express its full potential. In other words, drink it from 2028-2033.

However, he also noted that it had been his aim since the Cristal. 2002 vintage to make the expression more “approachable” on release, noting that the ripe fruit character in 2013, combined with the natural balance of the grapes, and use of oak in the fermentation process, had made the Champagne delicious to drink now.

Tasting notes provided by The Drinks Business: 

 While open and expressive, the nose suggests a fresh, taut style of Champagne, although there are some ripe notes and further delicate characters from the ageing process. So, aromas range from crisp apple and citrus zest – typical of a non-malolactic sparkling wine – to brioche, honey, and a hint of pear and peach.

The palate shows a similar contrast, with poached pear and yellow fruit, a touch of honey and hazelnut, baked baguette, and a creamy-textured fine, persistent fizz, before finishing with green apple and tangy lemon, followed by a lingering salty taste, along with a fine dusting of chalky tannin, bringing a pleasant dryness. While layered, with a beautiful array of complementary characters, the Champagne displays a tautness that makes it refreshing now but also suggests it will benefit from further cellaring and should reveal more in five to 10 years time.