The 2004 Brut Cristal has put on quite a bit of weight since I first tasted it earlier this year. It is a powerful, structured Cristal layered with considerable fruit. Chardonnay seems to play the leading role in 2004, at least today. Cristal is often accessible young, but that is far from the case here. This is a serious, painfully young Cristal that will require considerable patience. Readers who are willing to spend some time with the wine today will find a super-impressive, complete Cristal. The 2004 Cristal is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2034.

My visit to these historic cellars earlier in the year was an eye-opening experience. I spent several hours with Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon tastng through a wide range of 2009s vins claires. Readers may want to take a look at my feature on www.erobertparker.com for more on those wines. The visit was capped off by previews of the 2004 Cristal and the as-yet-unreleased Cristal Rose. Both were superb. Over the last six months the 2004 Cristal has come together beautifully and is shaping up to be a truly great, monumental Champagne. From top to bottom, this is an impressive set of wines. My only real criticism of Roederer is the estate’s insistence on using lot numbers that resemble missile launch codes in their complexity. Surely something simpler must be possible.

The estate’s 2004’s had been recently disgorged at the time of my visit. An explosion of fruit emerges from the 2004 Cristal, making a strong and very positive first impression. This is a wine of incredible finesse, length and balance that promises to develop beautifully over the next several decades. Today the 2004 comes across as more linear than the 2002. It should fill out nicely in bottle, although my sense is it will always remain a more focused, pointed vintage. In 2009 dosage was 9-10 grams per liter, down from the 12 or so grams that was customary five years ago. This bottle was disgorged in January 2009.

by Antonio Galloni, September 2010, for Wine Advocate