WINEMAKER'S 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 that reflect 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 flavors 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 flavorsome finish.
TASTING NOTES:
Extremely subtle and delicate, this has an enveloping nose of tiny red berries and dried flowers. This sparkling rosé masterpiece is just beginning to really open up. Fabulous velvety texture on the mouth-filling palate, the very fine mousse already spot on. Tons of structure behind all this, so this should age really well. From organically grown grapes.
- James Suckling, 98 pts.
The 2014 Cristal Rosé is fascinating to taste next to the 2015 and a few older vintages, as it is decidedly linear and taut, signatures that are typical of the year. Cranberry, chalk, mint, white pepper and blood orange are all finely sculpted. This is an especially fine showing. I imagine the 2014 will flesh out beautifully with time in bottle. It's not an immediate Cristal Rosé, but more of a long distance runner. Readers should be in no rush here.
- Vinous, 98 pts.
Roederer's 2014 Cristal Rosé has turned out beautifully, unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cherries, almonds, citrus fruit and red berries mingled with notions of white flowers and wet chalk. Full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a layered core of fruit and a pillowy mousse, it's deep, racy and electric, concluding with a long, mineral finish. Comparatively open out of the gates, it's no slight to the 2014's seriousness to say that it will drink well while its 2013 counterpart sleeps in the cellar. Deriving from just a handful of the over 39 blocks that inform the regular Cristal 2014, I suspect that its origins have even more to do with the extra dimension it possesses above and beyond its white counterpart than the subtle infusion of Pinot Noir phenolics that give it its delicate pink hue.
The epitome of great rosé Champagne, this is beautifully intense. The fruit and balanced mineral edge are united with mature redcurrant flavors in a wine that is perfectly aged. It is an impressive wine that is ready to drink.
- Wine Enthusiast, 97 pts.
This rosé features rich, focused flavors of peach tart, poached apricot and mandarin orange fruit, plus accents of toasted brioche, pastry cream, pickled ginger and pink grapefruit sorbet. Exudes an overall vibrant impression, with a fine interplay of elegance and complexity, showing deft integration of the vivid acidity and the satiny mousse. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
- Wine Spectator, 96 pts.
