Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal 2007 750 ml

2007 “Cristal” — 97+ points — Last Shot

Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne was created in 1876 to satisfy the refined palate of Tsar Alexander II. The emperor asked Roederer to reserve its best cuvée for him in exceptional vintages. To distinguish the Tsar’s Champagne from the rest, the wine came in a flat-bottomed, lead-glass “crystal” bottle. The brand later took its name from that precious vessel.

In 1990, while dining at Jean Bardet in Tours, we were treated to a bottle of eight-year-old Louis Roederer Cristal. The 1982 Cristal set a bar by which all other Champagnes would be measured. Five years after bottling, that crisp blend of dozens of micro-cuvées remained perfectly fresh and crisp, an exquisite Champagne that married power, grace, and elegance. Just $50 on release, the 1982 has steadily appreciated, and now fetches nearly $800/bottle on the auction market. The 2007 from Roederer’s celebrated Chef des Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon takes a glorious page out of that 25-year-old vintage script!

58% Pinot Noir and 42% Chardonnay. Brilliant pale-golden in hue. Tiny bubbles of terrific persistence. Big, rich, and bold on entry, more vinous and almost Meursault-like than the 2006, with gorgeous layers of ripe apple, juicy orange, and white peach. This is a rare vintage of Cristal — always one of Champagne’s biggest and boldest tête de cuvées — one that marries great precision and substantial power, a release with what Antonio Galloni calls a “kaleidoscopic personality that will leave Champagne lovers weak at the knees.”

97+ points from Galloni. Last shot on WineAccess today — only $199/bottle.