98 POINTS
Stuart Pigott - JamesSuckling.com
Extremely subtle and delicate, this has an enveloping nose of tiny red berries and dried flowers. This sparkling rosé masterpiece is just beginning to really open up. Fabulous velvety texture on the mouth-filling palate, the very fine mousse already spot on. Tons of structure behind all this, so this should age really well. From organically grown grapes. Tasted at the Cristal vertical tasting at the champagne house on July 6th, 2023. Drink from release.
98 POINTS
Peter Moser - Falstaff
Very pale salmon pink with fine copper reflections, very fine, yet intense mousse. Delicate aromas of currant, raspberry and white apple, smoky red berry touch, seductive and multi-faceted, subtle oak aromas are in the background. Concentrated, pure and precise on the palate, complex texture, silky red forest berry fruit, delicate acidity, the typical umami note on the finish, sea salt and iodine in the long aftertaste, a fine red berry fruit also in the aftertaste. An impressive cuvée, but has by no means reached its drinking peak yet. (06/24, PM).
98 POINTS
Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous
The 2014 Cristal Rosé is fascinating to taste next to the 2015 and a few older vintages, as it is decidedly linear and taut, signatures that are typical of the year. Cranberry, chalk, mint, white pepper and blood orange are all finely sculpted. This is an especially fine showing. I imagine the 2014 will flesh out beautifully with time in bottle. It's not an immediate Cristal Rosé, but more of a long distance runner. Readers should be in no rush here. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. Disgorged: February 2024.
97 POINTS
William Kelley - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Roederer's 2014 Cristal Rosé has turned out beautifully, unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cherries, almonds, citrus fruit and red berries mingled with notions of white flowers and wet chalk. Full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a layered core of fruit and a pillowy mousse, it's deep, racy and electric, concluding with a long, mineral finish. Comparatively open out of the gates, it's no slight to the 2014's seriousness to say that it will drink well while its 2013 counterpart sleeps in the cellar. Deriving from just a handful of the over 39 blocks that inform the regular Cristal 2014, I suspect that its origins have even more to do with the extra dimension it possesses above and beyond its white counterpart than the subtle infusion of Pinot Noir phenolics that give it its delicate pink hue.
97 POINTS
Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast
The epitome of great rosé Champagne, this is beautifully intense. The fruit and balanced mineral edge are united with mature red-currant flavors in a wine that is perfectly aged. It is an impressive wine that is ready to drink.
97 POINTS
Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous
The 2014 Cristal Rosé sizzles with energy. Finely cut and crystalline to the core, the 2014 is laced with striking vibrancy. Chalk, mint, white flowers, cranberry and blood orange all race across the palate. Deceptively understated and nuanced, the 2014 possesses tons of energy and captivating inner perfume. The 2014 is at the beginning of what is sure to be a very long life. I would not plan on opening a bottle for at least a few years. The style of the vintage is one built on linear intensity more than opulence, like say 2004, with captivating aromatics and a sort of inner tension that needs to resolve. As always, the Rosé is done in the classic Roederer infusion style in which Pinot Noir is vinified on the skins and then blended with Chardonnay to complete the fermentation. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: June 2022. Cristal Rosé is a much smaller production made from just three parcels. Here, the preference is for riper Pinot from the Bonnotte-Pierre-Robert lieu-dit in Aÿ, macerated for about a week and then infused into Chardonnays from Montmartin in Mesnil-sur-Oger and Pierre Vaudon in Avize. Naturally, this approach requires parcels that ripen in a very specific sequence. Here, too, there is no malolactic fermentation. Oak is about 15% for the Rosé, lower than the Blanc.
