Last call for 2002 Cristal

22/04/10

Just as the world wakes up to what a great vintage 2002 is in Champagne, one of the region's greatest wines will shortly move on to the subsequent (2004) vintage. Whilst its contemporaries still haven't even seen the light of day, 2002 Cristal first hit the market back in early 2008. And, despite the deterioration in our exchange rate since then, our price hasn't moved, and we continue to offer one of the lowest prices in the UK. Once Roederer are sold out, that's going to change, so if you're a fan of this Champagne classic, there's no better time to squirrel some away for the cellar.

Although the 2002 is attractive now, it's a serious wine which really demands a decade or two in the cellar. For us, Cristal vintages from the eighties are the ones to be drinking now. With age the vinosity develops: the bubbles become less intrusive and the wine develops a beautiful buttery/nutty complexity. Yet so much of the production is drunk young that, once mature, it is rarely seen and the price becomes prohibitive. That's especially true of the best vintages, and few are a match for 2002.

`If a wine could ever make you want to pull the top down on your '68 Ferrari convertible, rip off the rearview mirror and take off, this is it... All the scents and flavors seem to emanate from limestone, as does the acidity, which hints at the front of the mouth and powers through the wine with the kind of solar energy that lifts mist off the white chalk on a cool morning in Cramant... It's already irresistible, and will only improve with ten, 20, 30 and 40 years of age. 100 points.` - Joshua Greene, Wine & Spirits Magazine, December 2009

Offered subject to remaining unsold

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