Roederer/Louis Brut Champagne Cristal 2015

98 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2015 Louis Roederer Cristal is composed this year from a cépages of sixty percent pinot noir and forty percent chardonnay, with twenty-five percent of the vins clairs raised in oak barrels. As is customary, the still wines do not go through malolactic fermentation for Cristal and the wine was finished with a dosage of seven grams per liter in this vintage, after aging nearly seven years sur lattes. It delivers a beautifully refined aromatic constellation of apple, nectarine, a superbly complex base of chalky minerality, a touch of raw almond, pâtissière, white flowers and a very, very discreet hint of oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and utterly seamless in its perfect balance, with a marvelous core, superb soil signature and grip, zesty acids and a very, very long, focused and complex finish. 2015 is a riper year in Champagne and this seems to have dovetailed brilliantly with the classic Cristal style of mineral signature, precise fruit tones and great structural integrity. This is destined to be a great, great classic vintage of Cristal! 2033-2100. (May/Jun 2023)"

98 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Independent): "The 2015 Cristal is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. No malo-lactic was employed, and 25% wine was aged in oak. The dosage is 7 grams per liter. An exquisitely delicate yet complex perfume of clover honey, freshly shaved ginger, marzipan, and jasmine slowly emerges from the nose, giving way to a core of pear tart, persimmons, and apple butter. The palate is an exercise in finesse, featuring very fine bubbles and fantastic intensity with a myriad of spice and floral nuances, finishing with impressive persistence and jaw-dropping poise. This is a style for those that embrace purity, soft-spoken expression, and impeccable crafting. It won't disappoint those who love Champagne in its initial youthful perfume flushes, yet will undoubtedly reward the patient with a richer, toastier, more obvious and opulent style with 5-10 years+ of cellaring. Alcohol 12.5%. Drink: 2027-2060. (4/18/23)"

98 points/'Cellar Selection,' Wine Enthusiast: "From vineyards that are run organically, this iconic Champagne's latest iteration is as beautiful as ever. Textured, with a mineral undertow, the wine is just beginning to soften and show a balanced maturity. Drink this great wine now. Alcohol 12.5%. (Dec 2023)"

98 points Wine & Spirits: "Ripened to fragrant white-peach flavors in the heat of the 2015 vintage, the biodynamically farmed fruit for Cristal transforms that ripeness into a delicate juiciness, the wine both luscious and youthfully concentrated, almost severe in its structure. None of the wine undergoes malolactic conversion, and a quarter of the base wine ages in oak; particularly in this vintage, Cristal is built for the long haul, rather than for drinking on release. Spicy and subtle, this wine’s earthiness is incipient, not yet revealed, like a groundnut—not the peanut, but the native-American tuber with a flavor that might literally be described as a pomme de terre (an apple of the earth). Sophisticated and layered, this wine hums with a quiet energy. (Dec 2023)"

97 points Stuart Pigott (JamesSuckling.com): "For the warm and dry vintage this has tremendous freshness and elegance. The complex nose of citrus blossom, mint, lemon and lime zest opens up slowly as this aerates in the glass. The wine’s ample structure is still quite firm, which is a vintage characteristic, the mousse very fine but also very lively for an eight-year-old champagne. Cristal fans will love this as it is, but a year or two more in the bottle will do a lot for the very long mineral finish of this youthful masterpiece. A cuvee of 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay, picked from all 45 Cristal vineyard plots. Tasted at the Cristal vertical tasting at the champagne house on July 6th, 2023. Drink from release. (8/7/23)"

96 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "[$450 list] I have tasted the 2015 Cristal three times so far - once as part of an extensive vertical I will be reporting on shortly, and then later in my office. Those tastings paint a portrait of a complex Champagne that is still finding its center. Tasted at the maison, the 2015 is rich, dense and explosive, with tremendous textural intensity and also a good bit of energy to back it up. Citrus confit, spice, ginger, chalk and dried flowers abound in a Champagne endowed with tremendous aromatic presence in a style that offers notable richness, but lighter than vintages such as 2012. There is a bit of the savoriness that is such a signature of the year, but it is nicely integrated in the wine’s fabric. Two later tastings in my office strongly suggest the 2015 has already started to shut down a bit, which is a shame, as it may be hard to read for some time to come. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: November 2022. The 2015 is an unusual Cristal in that it includes fruit from all 45 parcels at the domaine, which has not happened since 2002. Pinots from Verzy and Verzenay, north-facing sites in the Montagne de Reims, featured quite a bit, adding energy to the blend. As always, there is no malolactic fermentation. About 25-30% of the lots were fermented in oak. In warmer vintages, Lécaillon bumps up the wood a bit to add phenolic intensity, which he describes as “stretching out the finish” and adding freshness. Drink: 2025-2040. (May 2023)"

96 points Wine Spectator: "This mouthwatering Champagne has an ethereal quality, with a frame of chiseled acidity and focused precision to the pointillisme-like, vibrant mousse. Yet this shows depth and generous expression, with the finely spun notes of patisserie apple and blackberry fruit opening beautifully on the palate and through the minerally finish, with notes of grated ginger, blood orange granita, salted Marcona almond and anise. Drink now through 2035. (11/15/23)"

96 points Peter Moser (Falstaff): "Pale greenish yellow, golden reflections, very fine, persistent mousse. Citrus nuances with a hint of freshly baked pastry, lime zest, white vineyard peach, a hint of kumquat and hazelnut, underlaid with a mineral note, a finesse-rich, animating bouquet. Full-bodied, with a taut mineral texture, medium body, white pomaceous fruit, a hint of ringlet, still very youthful, fine salty nuances on the finish, good length, definite ageing potential, a precise food companion that can still improve with bottle ageing. (1/1/23)"

95+ points William Kelley (Wine Advocate): "If the 2014 vintage was especially open and demonstrative, the 2015 Cristal is going to require more patience. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of citrus oil, crisp stone fruits, white flowers, crushed mint and subtle hints of buttery pastry, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a deep, concentrated and rather introverted core of fruit framed by chalky extract and animated by a pretty pinpoint mousse. This is a serious, vinous Champagne that has considerable substance to age and may well evolve along the lines of the lovely 1985. Drink: 2027-2050. (Apr 2023)"

95 points Anne Krebiehl, MW: "(60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay). An open and inviting nose references cream, oatmeal and Amalfi lemon with the slightest edge of smoke. The palate immediately strikes with a mouthwatering lemon ripeness and a juicy, mouthfilling generosity reminiscent of yellow plum. It stays true to the trademark sleekness of Cristal and speaks of the concentration of 2015. Fine mousse accentuates the fullness and roundness of the wine while the long finish hints at chalky depth which, for now, is dominated by ripe stone fruit and more of that textured, rich notion of oatmeal. Definitely a Cristal to enjoy soon. Drinking Window: 2023-2035. (Apr 2023)" 

95 points Tyson Stelzer (The Champagne Guide): "(tasted in 2023 in France; 60% pinot noir, 40% chardonnay; sourced from a pool of 45 historical vineyard plots over some 50 hectares in seven grand crus, one-third in the Vallée de la Marne, one-third Montagne de Reims, one-third Côte des Blancs, averaging 43 years of age, on the most chalky mid-slopes, yielding 30% less than the appellation; sourced from all 45 plots for the first time since 2002; seventy lieu-dits: chardonnay from 10 on the Avize hillsides, 11 in Cramant and 9 in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, pinot noir from 10 on the Aÿ hillsides, 17 in Verzenay, 12 in Verzy and one in Beaumont-sur-Vesle; this is the fourth vintage in which the Cristal estate is 100% biodynamic; 25% vinified in oak (more for refinement than for texture), of which 60% is chardonnay and 40% pinot noir; no malolactic fermentation; 5.2-5.4 atmospheres of pressure; aged 7 years on lees; 7g/L dosage; cork). There is a pale blush tint in 2015 that reflects the generosity of this season unlike any before it. The magnitude and exuberance of the vintage are unashamedly on display here in a rigidly scaffolded style that courageously brings phenolic impact into the presence of chalk minerality and gentle malic acid drive. The result is a crunchy Cristal of ripe beurre bosc pear in both texture and flavour, with grapefruit pith and marzipan. Holding magnificent line and length, this is a Cristal for protein pairings and for long age. (Edition VII; 2024)"