Estimate
This has moved into a great place, offering the maximum range of characters. From the chalk-driven core emerges an array of spices, fresh mushrooms, white truffles, cocoa powder and dried, woody notes. There’s an explosive feel to the palate with spiced black cherries and plums.
Wafting from the glass with aromas of mandarin oil, warm bread and raspberries, mingled with notes of clear honey, blanched almonds and pastry cream, the 1996 Cristal Rosé Vinothèque is showing superbly.
...the intensity and delineation of the flavors is just stunning. Cranberry, rose petal, mint and chalk open up in the glass, but the Rosé is above all else a Champagne of structure.
Acidity much more marked than on the 1995 rosé. Seems much more than one year younger than the rosé 1995. Very, very bright fruit.
The 1996 Cristal Rosé Vinothèque spent ten years on its lees, flat (sur latte), and another four years upside down (sur pointe), the first period to get a slight oxygenation, and the second to bring the wine back into a slightly reductive state. Dosage is 7 grams per liter, using a custom liqueur made from bottled wine and liqueur, as opposed to the Cristal from cask that is used for the first release of Cristal and Cristal Rosé. The 1996 Cristal Rosé is the first Champagne Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon blended at Roederer.