Cristal 2008 Champagne BRUT, Louis Roederer, Gift Box

100 Point - James Suckling

100 Point - Wine Enthusiast

99 Point - View from the Cellar

98+ Point - Vinous

97+ Point - Robert Parker

2008 Cristal – den bedste årgang nogensinde! Siden høsten for 10 år siden, har verden ventet utålmodigt på 2008 Cristal. Kort før sommerferien blev den frigivet, og ventetiden har ikke været forgæves. Kritikerne er enige – 2008 Cristal er den bedste nogensinde!

James Suckling og Wine Enthusiast rater begge maksimale 100 point, Galloni fra Vinous giver 98+p og Robert Parkers WineAdvocate giver 97+ point - Der er altså blandt kritikerne en bred enighed om, at cellar master hos Louis Roederer Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon med årgang 2008 har præsteret noget nær det perfekte.

Cristal 2008 har årgangens liflige og delikate stil, men samtidig også Cristals sædvanlige komplekse aroma og kødfuldhed, i både duft og smag. Her finder man umiddelbare og liflige nuancer af citrusfrugter, pollen og abrikoser. Med lidt iltning i glasset kommer der toner frem, som minder mere om modne, eksotiske frugter.

Vinous: "The 2008 Cristal is a real head-turner. Powerful, ample and explosive in all of its dimensions, the 2008 takes hold of the sense and never lets up. There is a crystalline purity to the flavors that is simply remarkable. Although still a baby, the 2008 looks like it will soon take its place alongside the greatest Cristals. Today, it is breathtaking."

James Suckling: "Staggeringly concentrated, yet the balance makes it seem airy and light. This is an ultra precise Cristal, finishing with a mere suggestion of savoriness and warmth to come."

Robert Parker: "Let's start describing the 2008 Cristal technically first. It is a 60/40 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from 36 plots in seven grands crus: Verzy, Verzenay, Beaumont and Aÿ for the Pinot Noir and Mesnil, Avize and Cramant for the Chardonnay. Twenty-five percent of the wine was fermented in oak, and 16% underwent malolactic fermentation to moderate the fresh acidity of the 2008 vintage. The assemblage was bottled in May 2009. After 8.5 years on the second lees (longer than any Cristal before), the first release was disgorged in September 2017 with a relatively low dosage of 7.5 grams per liter.

So, here is how it tastes as a "young" cuvée: The 2008 Cristal opens bright, super clear, fresh and pure on the exciting, absolutely fascinating nose with its fine, complex and elegant bouquet of gorgeously ripe and matured fruits, brioche and chalk expressions. This is the finest you can get from Champagne. The palate is pure, lean, fresh and filigreed but concentrated, highly complex, full of tension and enormously vibrant. This is a great vin de terroir, a dense and elegant Super-Cristal that goes straight and precise as a laser beam over the palate but also has texture in the form of sensually fleshy fruit. The dosage, however, is the lowest ever: just 7.5 grams. The endless and highly tensioned finish is complex, citrusy fresh, full of chalk and crystalline finesse. The 2008 Cristal is a vitalizing drug, "the Chevalier Montrachet of Champagne," as Jean-Baptise Lécaillon puts it. It is the most exciting 2008 Champagne I have tasted thus far (May 2018)."