Louis Roederer Cristal Rose 2014.

VINTAGE

A “weather waltz”, and one with clear, sharp contrasts! The spring was sunny and dry and ended with a heatwave in June; summer was autumnal, cool and rainy; September was hot, sunny and very dry… weather we would usually associate with the month of August. The ‘key’ to the vintage lay in the soils as well as in the work carried out by the winegrowers. The good drainage properties of the chalk on the lower-middle part of the hillside helped us greatly by allowing the excess water from the summer to drain away which limited any excess vigour in the vines. These factors were complemented by our increasingly eco-friendly viticultural practices which allow us to take our quest for grapes of perfect balance and maturity even further.

With its trim, ripe fruit and delicious texture, Cristal Rosé 2014 shows incredible precision. An almost electric delicacy with great intensity of flavour.

TASTING NOTES

Pink hue with slightly coppery tints.

Dynamic bubbles forming a lingering bead.

Pure, precise and dazzling bouquet. The intense Pinot noir aromas take us back to the harvest time with its pure, ripe and concentrated fruit: zesty red berries (red currants, wild raspberries, blackcurrants) and raspberry liqueur. Then come sweet spice and smoky notes with a hint of reduction (smoky, spicy) from the Pinot noir with its notes of undergrowth.

Concentrated and broad on the palate, where the red fruit (strawberries, raspberries) is concentrated into a firm, dense texture that reveals itself in two stages thatreflect the year's extremes: Initially the texture is silky and broad on entry (the final ripeness) and then followed by a firm and intense freshness (the cool summer). We have a sensation of concentration, of a whirlwind of flavours that burst delicately and gradually like salt bubbles on the palate. The saline, iodine impression combines with the smoky notes and acidity to create umami and an infinitely flavoursome finish.