Crystal-idays

Going bigger isn't always better.

by Mike Supple
published: 23 Dec 2009       | Comments

It can be fun to bump your New Year's Eve party up a notch by splurging on expensive Champagne. And what's more expensive and audacious than a delicious bottle of Cristal? Nothing - except perhaps the hideous golden Ace of Spades bottle. Don't go that route. Please.

Cristal is incredibly well made and it tastes delicious, but before you drop $200+ in a retail shop or $400+ in a club - yes, you read that right, clubs and restaurants are usually at least double the price of retail - you may want to consider a few alternatives that will feel better on your wallet, taste better in your mouth and still make you look like the king or queen of the party.

Cristal falls into the category of tête de cuvée or prestige cuvée Champagnes. These are the best of the best from any one Champagne house. They are generally made in very small quantities and only in the best years. They are also usually several hundred dollars. (Others in this category include Moët & Chandon Dom Perignon, Krug Clos du Mesnil and Deutz Cuvée William.) Cristal is the tête du cuvée from the Champagne house Louis Roederer.

In addition to the staggering cost, there is good reason to consider something besides Cristal this year. Cristal (and other prestige Champagnes) is made to be aged for many years before consumption. This doesn't mean that it tastes bad when young, but it definitely tastes better after it's had time to mature - more complex flavors and aromas tend to evolve. Cristal is currently in the 2002 vintage, and while delicious, I wouldn't spend that kind of money for drinking today, as it is not quite as complex right now as many others that cost less. However, if you have the ability - and patience - to age it for another 5 years or more, then it will truly be something amazing.

So what should you do if you neglected to plan your New Year's Eve party five years in advance? The answer is simple: drink non-vintage Champagnes. The majority of Champagnes are non-vintage, which means they are made from a blend of different years rather than one single year. They are intended to be consumed right away, and thus are generally at the peak of their flavor and aroma complexity when they hit your local retail shop. Drinking a non-vintage Champagne is by no means slumming, and many houses stake their reputation on their ability to consistently produce a high-quality non-vintage wine that tastes the same year after year regardless of what nature throws at them.

But if you're looking for something that's still in that vintage Champagne family (made only from grapes picked in the same year) to give your New Year's celebration a little more flair, then you still have many options. The house of Louis Roederer produces a few different styles of vintage Champagne other than Cristal, and their 2003 Louis Roederer Champagne Brut tastes delicious right now. While it is a year younger than the 2002 Cristal, it is made in a different style that gives it more complexity earlier in its life so that it can be consumed at a younger age than Cristal. 2003 was also a very different year from 2002 in terms of growing conditions, and the grapes in the 2003 Champagne taste much riper, richer and fruitier, all of which makes for better early drinking. At about $70 retail, this bottle is by no means cheap. But at a third of the price of Cristal, you get the same wine-making team, the same tradition, the same high quality and the satisfaction of knowing that you drank something better, for less. They also didn't produce any Cristal in 2003, so guess where they put their highest quality grapes instead?

Here's a breakdown of a few wines from the Louis Roederer family at varying price points:

2002 Louis Roederer Cristal - ~$230
Fresh and bright with very high acidity. Green apples dominate the aromas and flavors, with more subtle notes of pear, lemon and strawberry hiding in the background. Soft touches of toast and almonds linger on the finish. Tons of tiny bubbles give it a very creamy feel in the mouth. Complex, yet still restrained. Will benefit from more time in the bottle.

2003 Louis Roederer Brut - ~$70
Very creamy with rich, mouth-filling little bubbles. Dark and nutty on the nose with aromas of marzipan and almond around ripe apricot and yellow pear. Bursting with flavor in the mouth, adding notes of toast and lemon zest. With all the bright flavors it manages to stay amazingly restrained, with a long finish. This is an impressively elegant bottle.

Non-vintage Louis Roederer Brut Premier - ~$50
Medium-sized bubbles in the glass and mouth. The current release is firing on all cylinders, full of flavor, yet balanced with good acidity and a long finish. Aromas and flavors of toast, honeyed biscuit, yellow pear, apple, lemon, wet flint, coconut and pineapple.

Non-vintage Roederer Estate Brut - ~$25
Made in California, but by the same team, in the same method and using the same types of grapes as the ones from Champagne. One of the best non-vintage sparkling wines produced in the US, and better than many true Champagnes. $25 for something of this quality is tough to beat. Lots of crisp green apple and lemon flavors, with just a touch of strawberry and lingering hints of toast.