Bob McDonald

9.7

At the Come Taste the Stars Dinner hosted by Tyson Stelzer. Tyson was gobsmacked by this Champagne giving it 100 points. The colour was Salmon with a touch of copper. Strawberry notes with rose petals. Louis Roederer have been working hard on their biodynamic regime in the vineyard. Biodynamics create greater vigour in the vine allowing the roots to penetrate deeper into the chalk. Incredible depth length and precision - stays in the mouth for minutes. Only 31 bottles came to Australia and 8 bottles used up on this dinner. One could write pages about the production techniques used in this Rose Champagne - like Carbonic Maceration of the Pinot bunches by Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon the winemaker. At Montrachet Restaurant in Brisbane. — 6 days ago

Mark Flesher

9.0

Probably would have been better with a decant of at least a couple of hours. This wine has a hint of honeyed almond and cashew on the nose. Also has a little bit of herbal quality. The entry of this wine is actually pretty round on the front. Buttercream. The middle is where this wine gains acidity and a dried herb and limestone, crushed rock character. Finishes with more acidity. This wine definitely had much more going on when it was closer to room temperature. Served at a restaurant, they tried like hell to keep it as cold as possible despite my attempts of taking the bottle out of the bucket... it always found its way back in... I sense there is quite a bit of improvement in the next 3 or 4 years. If I had to do it all over again though, I would probably leave this one alone, especially at the price. — 7 days ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

After dumping a corked 97 vintage of the same I upgraded to the 96. Glad I did. Dark and murky, almost opaque. With air this goes bing cherry and spice. Notes of black cherry, pepper spice, wood, earth and a little mocha. Masculine. Shows that 96 acidity and some pucker. But it’s up against a big core of fruit that’s powerful as well. Long finish. This can probably improve with more age but is nice tonight. — 18 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.7

At Come Taste The Stars Dinner hosted by Tyson Stelzer. Another 60/40 Pinot Noir/Chardonnay balance. More floral aromatics than the Winston. Similar to the 1996 vintage in many respects but a one week delay in picking over 1996 to gain better ripeness. Other differences were no malo in 1996 and for 2008 16% Malo. Also more oak influence in 2008 - 3% to 22%. 9 years on Lees. Tyson said it will not attain its full potential until 2038 and go on for another 20 years after that Great freshness minerality and tension. Tyson said this was the greatest Cristal he has ever had. At Montrachet Restaurant. — 6 days ago

Janet

9.4

Commanders Palace — 14 days ago

Natalie Corrado

9.0

Tasting during Imago - first course — 25 days ago

Roberto Carli

9.0

Nice but not great. Good body and balance for a nature — 19 days ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.2

W&S Top 100, my first time trying this beauty. Thanking you. — 3 days ago

with Mark

Matt Sterr

9.0

Zippy. Citrus. Acid. — 6 days ago

Severn Goodwin

9.1

Prior notes still apply, wonderful bottle!

Nose has bright spring cherry (supermarket not farmers market) and a tinge of alcohol.
Palate has gravel-cherry, sweet, this started quite tannic but mellowed a bit in the decanter (2Hr). Drinking quite nice for an everyday Pinot, not overly complicated, but enjoyable.

A good pairing with Spaghetti Squash lasagna tonight, with our homemade tomato sauce. (A fun dish with heavily roasted squash, but we still need to fine tune the reduction of its liquid. The Squash has a lot of moisture, and we need to get more out on future versions. Third time is the charm, right?) — 3 days ago