Description / Reviews
// 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay (all Grand Cru fruit from 45 distinct plots)
Aged on lees for 6.5 years (with 25% of the wines vinified in oak)
Disgorged in late 2022
7g/L dosage
"A perfect combination of softness and concentration, matched by a masterful maturity, The 2015 Cristal Brut delivers intense and delicious aromas with a superb energy and a magical vibration. This is a timeless champagne with a chalky temperament, sustained by its soils, freed from the sunny character of the vintage. The nose begins with hints of yellow fruit, toasted almonds and wheat from the Chardonnay, combined with the juicy red fruit of the Pinot Noir. Then comes the great surge of energy from the wine's structure, a vibratory intensity that transforms into a gentle caress, a silky texture interwoven with fine flavors of candied citrus and iodized spices. The vintage's chalky character thus bursts forth in a bracing, vertical effervescence, with an insistent, precise and finely honed freshness. The finish is underpinned by subtle oaky, sappy and saline notes, which creates the ultimate sensation of delicacy and concentration. Cristal 2015 remains a wine of supreme balance and measure, resonating from the chalky nature of its soils rather than the sunny character of its vintage. A perfect Cristal, intensely of the 2015 vintage, with enormous ageing potential." - House Notes
"An exquisitely delicate yet complex perfume of clover honey, freshly shaved ginger, marzipan, and jasmine slowly emerges from the nose, giving way to a core of pear tart, persimmons, and apple butter. The palate is an exercise in finesse, featuring very fine bubbles and fantastic intensity with a myriad of spice and floral nuances, finishing with impressive persistence and jaw-dropping poise. This is a style for those that embrace purity, soft-spoken expression, and impeccable crafting. It won't disappoint those who love Champagne in its initial youthful perfume flushes, yet will undoubtedly reward the patient with a richer, toastier, more obvious and opulent style with 5-10 years+ of cellaring." - 98 Points, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
"Light-ish straw with a faint tint indicating red grapes, the bouquet shows some mushroom, also of pinot noir/meunier, and there's also celery, parsnip notes, while the palate is full, rich and powerful with concentration and depth. Clearly more intensity and concentration than the Collection wines tasted with it. There is very crisp mouth-feel with a final dryness that reverberates for a long time, the dryness thanks to some phenolic grip, which more than counters any sweetness from the dosage. It's very dry, with a seriously chalky finish, and shows this vintage's no-malolactic style. A wine of tremendous finesse, line and length. It's still tight and has yet to develop any toastiness, and will blossom with some time in the cellar. A triumph from a difficult year." - 97 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
"I have tasted the 2015 Cristal three times so far. Those tastings paint a portrait of a complex Champagne that is still finding its center. Tasted at the maison, the 2015 is rich, dense and explosive, with tremendous textual intensity and also a good bit of energy to back it up. Citrus confit, spice, ginger, chalk and dried flowers abound in a Champagne endowed with tremendous aromatic presence in a style that offers notable richness but in a lighter style than vintages such as 2012. There is a bit of the savoriness that is such a signature of the year, but it is nicely integrated into the wine’s fabric." - 96 Points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous
