Cristal, Brut, 2013

Name: Cristal, Brut
Brand: Louis Roederer
Price: 425 GBP

Available Vintages

all 1999 2008 2012 2013 2015

justerini & brooks tasting note

Toasty, dry and savoury, with the fresh enticement of warm baked bread on the nose – then explosive citrus and lean pinot notes on the nose. This is electric, saline and full of energy and intensity – it might not have the seamless coiled pitch perfect balance of the ultra-sophisticated 2012 but it has wonderful vitality to it – bright, crisp, tight skinned red berry and citrus fruit explodes across the palate on fantastic acidity. Should always be an exciting Cristal built around energy and sheer verve.

critic reviews

98/100Antonio Galloni,Vinous

A dense, explosive Champagne, the 2013 Cristal is a picture-perfect example of the year. Ripe pear, tangerine oil, white flowers and crushed rocks are all beautifully amplified. There is an exotic quality to the 2013 that simply can’t be denied.

DRINKING WINDOW 2024 - 2053

date of review 11/2025

98/100William Kelley,Robert Parker Wine Advocate

I've revisited Roederer's 2013 Cristal four times since I reviewed it in April of this yearincluding several times from my own cellarand I had to admit that even my lavish praise didn't do it full justice. Combining the cool-vintage cut of 2008 with the more completely mature fruit of 2012, the 2013 Cristal might well be said to represent the perfect combination of the two from a purist's perspective. The wine unwinds in the glass with notes of crisp orchard fruit, white flowers, almond paste and citrus oil, followed by a medium to full-bodied, seamless and multidimensional palate that's intense but weightless, with racy acids, a pinpoint mousse and a long, penetrating finish. Drink the 2008 Cristal on its own, and you're unlikelyto put it mildlyto have any complaints; but compare it directly with the 2013 and you'll see Roederer's rapid progress in the vineyards writ large.

DRINKING WINDOW 2025 - 2060

date of review 09/2021