Roederer Brut Cristal 2015

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.

Roederer's newly released 2015 Brut Vintage is a strong effort, offering up aromas of freshly baked bread, citrus oil, pastry cream, dried white flowers and verbena, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and pillowy palate framed by bright acids and concluding with chalky grip. This can't quite match the tension or plenitude of fruit of the last few releases, but it is a lovely Champagne. It's a blend of Pinot Noir from Verzy and Chardonnay from Chouilly.