Cristal Rosé

Cristal Rosé is the rosé counterpart of Cristal, the most famous wine of the Louis Roederer house of Reims (pronounced rans); the house has made it for half a century. 2015 brought record heat and drought, broken by rain in the second half of August. Roederer (pronounced ROH-duh-rer) wanted to capture the concentration of this vintage, and according to the technical sheet the wine turned out surprisingly delicate and fresh for such a hot summer.

Half the grapes come from the house's “la Rivière” vineyards and half from “la Côte”, and the main villages are Aÿ (pronounced ah-EE), Avize (pronounced a-VEEZ) and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (pronounced luh may-neel syoor oh-zhay). The blend is 56% Pinot Noir and 44% Chardonnay. 15% of the wine matured in oak, the wine did not go through malolactic fermentation, and the dosage is 7 g/l. The harvest ran from 7 to 20 September 2015.

According to the sheet, the colour is pink with copper glints. On the nose there are blood oranges from Etna, rose petals and concentrated raspberry, as well as toasted hazelnuts and macarons. On the palate the wine is delicate and creamy, raspberry and a floral note return, and soft tannins lead to a slightly salty finish.

The sheet does not suggest specific dishes. Its delicacy and slightly salty finish make the wine a good match for fish, seafood and poultry, though it also holds its own as an aperitif.