Roederer/Louis Brut Champagne Cristal 2006

97 points Richard Juhlin (Decanter): "Fantastic from the start. A colossal power of beautiful rumbling Pinot maturity. It's like chewing on the ripest grapes from Ay and Verzenay. At the same time ultra stylish: unmistakable Cristal essence of peach and mango sweetness, pineapple, coconut, vanilla, sprightly acidity and citrus blossom. Many similarities with 2002 but with a clearer Pinot touch. Drink: 2016-2030. Alcohol 12.5%. (Dec 2014)"

97 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2006 Cristal is a rich, explosive wine that captures all of the natural radiance of this warm year. Ample and full-bodied, the 2006 is one of the more extroverted recent Cristals. As such, it will drink well now, even though it has more than enough body to drink well for another 20 years or more. This shows real density and tons of character. It’s a big wine. “In retrospect, we might have preferred a lower dosage, but the wine was quite difficult to balance in blending, so we had to go for a higher dosage,” Lécaillon adds. Dosage is 9 grams per liter. Disgorged: 2014. Drink: 2023-2043. (Dec 2023)"

97 points Falstaff Guide: "Medium yellow, silver reflections, fine, persistent mousse. Scented smoky-spice, a ripe yellow apple touch, orange zest with fine herbal undertones. Juicy, fresh white fruit nuances, vibrant acidity, citrus touch, saline-mineral reverberation. Good length, ageing potential. (11/25/16)"

96 points Tyson Stelzer (The Champagne Guide): "(disgorged June 2012; 60% pinot noir, 40% chardonnay from a pool of 50 hectares of old vines on the most chalky sites; 20% matured in oak barrels with weekly bâtonnage; no malolactic fermentation; matured an average of 5 years on lees; 9g/L dosage). The finest Cristal since 2002, a celebration of ripe fruit framed in tense malic acidity. Even in its extreme youth more than a year prior to release, it ripples with generous waves of pure white peach, fig, butterscotch, even candied fruits, grilled pineapple and fruit-mince spice. Roederer's stamp of malic acidity takes control of this revelry, pulling the finish into a refined focus of crunchy lemon zest freshness, shimmering with expressive, fine, mouth-filling chalk minerality. Another year will certainly help, but it screams out for at least a few years to build depth and complexity. The release of Cristal is timed according to sales of the previous vintage, typically making this the first of the big-gun prestige champagnes to be lobbed into the market. Such early release is to its loss, as Cristal is a champagen that blossoms with sufficient time for its reductive complexity to mellow, its fruit personality to assert itself, and its malic acidity to settle down, as recent tastings of mature vintages attest. (2014-2015)"

96 points Neal Martin (Vinous): "The bouquet is drop-dead gorgeous, lively and broad, and beautifully defined as always, offering scents of citrus fruit, toasted walnuts and a hint of brioche. The exquisitely balanced palate displays spine-tingling mineralité and real tension and grace. The long, quite deep finish makes me wonder whether this 2006 will meliorate with further bottle age. Should I care, when it is so delicious now? Just superb. Drink: 2019-2032. (Apr 2019)"

96 points Stuart Pigott (JamesSuckling.com): "Deep maturing nose with plenty of ripe pear and apricot, plus a whiff of smoke. This is a big and powerful champagne with notes of spice and grapefruit alongside some red berry fruit from pinot noir. Long chalky finish that’s more vibrant than the first impression suggests. Tasted at the Cristal vertical tasting at the champagne house on July 6th, 2023. Drink or hold. (8/4/23)"

97 points (18.5/20) La Revue du Vin de France: "The young 2006 Cristal blanc comes from the fruit of a rich vintage that often lacks harmony, but here is a generous, caressing example. (2015)"

94-96 points Essi Avellan, MW: "(60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay). Pale, bright lemon. Mild and gentle, bright fruity, still closed nose with underlying minerality and ripe fruit. Subdued but very pure and longlasting. This Cristal plays with Pinot Noir ripeness. It has as much as 60% Pinot Noir with Verzenay having the leading role bringing the much needed crisp acidity to this wine of a warm year. Tight yet soft with the subtlest mousse. Disgorged 2012. Timid still but with underlying gentleness and charm. Wait a few years. (Feb 2019)"

95 points Wine Spectator: "This elegant version shows beautiful texture and a sense of finesse despite the underlying power of vibrant acidity and smoky minerality. The palate offers a finely layered mesh of blackberry, poached pear, almond pastry, lemon zest and pickled ginger flavors. Drink now through 2028. (11/30/13)"

95 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2006 Cristal is comprised of a blend of fifty-five percent pinot noir and forty-five percent chardonnay, with twenty percent of the vins clairs having been barrel-fermented for this vintage. Despite the 2006 vintage’s predilection towards precociousness, there is no sign of this character in this beautiful rendition of Cristal, which offers up a deep, youthful and very serious bouquet of apple, delicate tangerine, brioche, fresh almond, very classy limestone minerality, incipient smokiness, a touch of orange peel and a floral topnote redolent of white lilies. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and impeccably balanced, with a great core of fruit, laser-like focus, utterly refined mousse, crisp acids and superb length and grip on the very pure and primary finish. Structurally, the 2006 Cristal is decidedly more open than its 2005 counterpart, but aromatically the wine is certainly not more developed and remains a young and very beautiful bottle of Champagne. I really love the background influence from the barrel fermentation here, which gives the wine a hint of roundness out of the blocks, but which does not intrude on the classically racy style of young Cristal. The 2006 Cristal will certainly reach its apogee earlier than the 2005, but this is still a young wine and deserves at least a handful of years in the cellar prior to drinking. 2018-2040+. (May/Jun 2014)"

95 points Josh Raynolds (International Wine Cellar): "(made from 55% pinot noir and 45% chardonnay; 20% of the wine was aged in oak; no malo, as usual): Light, bright gold. Heady mineral- and smoke-accented citrus and orchard fruit aromas, with notes of fig, toasted nuts and sweet butter adding complexity and depth. Powerful, palate-staining poached pear and orange flavors are given spine by a smoky mineral quality, picking up floral and spicecake notes with air. Rich but lively and precise, finishing with superb clarity, power and spicy persistence. Drinking this Champagne now would be a shame given this cuvee's track record for aging. (Nov/Dec 2013)"

95 points/'Cellar Selection,' Wine Enthusiast: "Although it is still young, this vintage of Cristal promises great things. There's an impressive balance between ripe fruit and crisp acidity, rich and food friendly, but also a fine apéritif. Apricot and grapefruit flavors are round and rich, but with considerable minerality as well. This is a beautiful wine that can improve with age, at least through 2030. (Dec 2013)"