Tasting note not yet translated.

– champagneclub.com, tested Jul 2011

With red berry and currant aromas on the pure and salty, complex and delicately vinous nose, the 2004 Cristal Rosé is a juicy but structured, vibrantly fresh and energetic cuvée with very fine tannins, great lightness, finesse and elegance. Tasted in New York, November 2018.

Characteristically discreet and calm even at 20 years of age, this vintage is open for business today with its redcurrant, red apple and nectarine fruit subtly pitched, nuanced and never obvious, softening into a smooth, creamy nougat palate that plays narrow and long with soft meringue mousse. It’s wearing its age beautifully, and whether to drink or hold from now is a matter of taste; further time will build the umami, savoury tones and dried fruit flavours, but it doesn't look like tiring any time soon.

60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay (20% wines vinified in oak barrels with weekly bâtonnage). Six years' ageing on lees before disgorgement and rests for eight months after disgorgement. Dosage 8-10 g/l. No malo. Looks similar in colour to a pale Provence rosé. Initial impression is toasty, struck-match notes. Then the Victoria plum fruit shows more on the palate but it is not so much the flavour as the intensity and strident freshness that dominates at the moment. Power and class combined. Goes on and on. But still way overpriced in terms of pleasure/price ratio. (JH)

The 2004 Cristal Rosé is also stellar. Here, time in bottle has added textural depth and Pinot Noir resonance, but without detracting from the wine’s essential tension and cut. Crushed rocks, white pepper, kirsch, mint and red plum fruit all race across the palate. I would love to spend all day with this. The 2004 Rosé has always been special. Today, it is in especially fine shape. At times, I get the feeling it is getting younger with age!