1988 Louis Roederer Cristal

We commenced with the 1988 Cristal. I wish every Tuesday lunch would start with ‘88 Cristal. Burnished amber in color, it has a captivating bouquet with mandarin and apricot scents, then traces of honeysuckle, Mirabelle and light Tokaji aszú aromas. Despite its 32-years of age, it was vibrant as the day its umbilical was cut, weighty in the mouth with real grip. The acidity was spot on and the finish brimmed with tension, orange rind and marmalade notes zinging around the mouth some 30-45 seconds after it was gone. Just brilliant.

The 1988 Cristal (magnum) is a wine of exquisite beauty and total refinement. Chardonnay drives the balance in a deep, vertical Champagne endowed with tremendous concentration and pure power. Lemon confit, wild flowers, mint and marzipan are some of the many notes that lift from the glass, but what stands out most about the 1988 is its extraordinary aromatic breadth and the sheer concentration of the flavors. “I really suffered with these wines," Lécaillon told me. “When I joined Roederer in 1989, these were the first vins clairs I tasted. I almost said: ‘I’m leaving. I can’t do this all my life.’ The wines were so hard to taste when they were young. So hard.” This is a late disgorgement from 2007. There is not a whole lot of doubt that nearly 20 years on the lees has transformed Cristal in magnum from a profound wine to something even more extraordinary. The 1988 is a rare Cristal in which Chardonnay drives the blend, composed of 54% Chardonnay and 46% Pinot Noir.

One of the two or three most moving wines in this vertical, the 1988 Cristal is eternal. Deep and vertical, with Gothic spires of soaring aromatic, flavor and structural intensity, the 1988 has it all. At thirty years of age, the 1988 is fresh, vibrant and incredibly powerful. Lemon peel, white flower, chalk and almonds are all given an extra kick of vibrancy from the bright acids and underlying energy of the vintage. Even after three decades, the 1988 remains searing, classically austere and beautifully focused, with tremendous pedigree and stunning balance. The 1988 is a rare Cristal where the Chardonnay, at 48% of the blend, is on the higher side. “When I joined Roederer in 1989, we were blending the 1988s,” Lécaillon explains. “They were such hard wines to work with because the acidities were so high. My teeth suffered. I thought ‘am I going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life? Maybe I should change jobs?’” Luckily, he did not. “In 1988, flowering was very bad for the Chardonnay. Yields were quite low and flavors were super-intense and concentrated. This, to me, is one of the keys for making great Champagne with real dimension. Interestingly, the same is not true of Pinot Noir. Keep a glass of the 1988 to compare with the 2008 later. In my opinion, 2008 is the new 1988.”