Farr Vintners Logo

Cristal, Louis Roederer 1996

Tasting Notes

Roederer's 1996 Cristal is gorgeous. The expressive, floral bouquet melds seamlessly into an expansive palate of sweet fruit. This is an exceptionally polished and finessed Cristal, but like so many vintages, it needs time in bottle, regardless of how rewarding it is today. Even after all of these great 1996s, the Cristal delivers the goods.

96
Antonio Galloni, RobertParker.com, January 2009
95
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (144), December 2002

Roederer's flagship wine is always elegant, but needs time in bottlwe to show all its facets. This shows the lean, racy character of the vintage, accentuated by the dry style. The floral and citrus notes are autere and the flavours build in intensity, but even at this young stage the class and harmony reveal themselves. It will be even better in a few years.

Bruce Sanderson, WineSpectator.com (vol1/30)

A green hint. Tangy and very vibrant and nervy and vivacious. Very tight and firm and tightly laced like a corset. More depth and extract than in the '99 - very nerveux. About as much astringence as the 1999, still. Very firm. Very fine and tight and angular. This should make spectacular old bones - if it's allowed to. Drink 2010 - 2025.

19.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, May 2007

Tasted at the IMW Louis Roederer tasting. Disgorged September 2006. A light silvery hue. The bouquet is still firmly in its first stages of evolution but unfurls in the glass, offering notes of clear honey, acacia, a touch of smoke, a hint of white peach and pink grapefruit. Gaining freshness and intensity with aeration. The palate is beautifully balanced with a bewitching sense of symmetry. Elegant and caressing towards the finish with touches of orange-blossom and apricot. Superb length. Wonderful. Drink now-2025+.

97
Neal Martin, RobertParker.com, March 2010
Read more tasting notes...
90
Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator (vol1/30)
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.