Burgundy/Champagne
Timed Online Auction, 11 - 23 October 2023
Burgundy & Champagne
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
Founded in 1776 in Reims, Champagne Louis Roederer is one of the few family-owned and managed houses. After inheriting the house from his uncle in 1833, Louis Roederer renamed after himself. Under his management, Champagne Louis Roederer remained true to its age-old philosophy of quality. While other houses bought in grapes, Louis Roederer nurtured his vineyards, familiarised himself with the specific characteristics of each parcel, and methodically acquired the finest land. Today, the estate owns nearly 75% of the grapes in the region’s most sought-after vineyards stretching from Montagne de Reims to Valleé de la Marne. Today, Jean-Claude Rouzaud and his son Frédéric run the business and continue to put quality before quantity.
Organic and Biodynamic practices since 2000 (not certified)
Self-regulated application of the below practices in vineyard and/or cellar. Main reason for not being certified is to allow for intervention should it be deemed necessary to maintain production.
Farmed and made according to organic practices, certified by ECOCERT (mostly Europe) and other organisations.
Certified organically grown grapes - no use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides. Use of certain cover crops, methods of soil care, and other specified vineyard care.
Wine made according to strict standards - use of approved, organic yeast, and no added sulfites or other specified additives. Does not imply that the wine is vegan (allows for specified fining agents (including egg whites) and enzymes). In certain regions this is extended to chaptalisation and acid addition.
This lot consist of one bottle each Louis Roederer Cristal 1982 & 1983.
Provenance
Private Client
Critics Ratings
1982:
‘Lovely truffley fully developed nose. Tightly wound and very intriguing. Rich underneath. Very flattering and gorgeous. Finishes a little skinnier. Lots of mushrooms on the palate. Long. Quite rich really Very much a wine rather than a champagne, with some real weight. Very fine and neat and dense. Perhaps slightly less concentrated than the 1990 and 1996.’ - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 19/20 (Aug 2007)
‘Power, intensity and phenolics are the signatures of the 1982 Cristal. One of my personal favorites, the 1982 is bright, tense and vibrant to the core. I very much like the sense of energy here. The aromatics could be a touch more precise in this bottle, but the trademark 1982 structure is very much on display. The 1982 remains one of my all-time favorite Cristals.’ - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, 96/100 (Oct 2014)
‘A simply delicious Champagne with lots of flavor and charm. It's very clean; crisp and full-bodied with toasty, yeasty, figgy aromas and a delicate creamy texture that shows off the spicy, tart cherry and gingery flavors.’ - Wine Spectator, 92/100 (1987)
1983:
‘The 1983 Cristal is fabulous. Rich, ample and generous, the 1983 is incredibly inviting, with tons of class and personality. A wine of real volume and textural breadth, the 1983 has enough pedigree to drink well for many years. None of the elements stand out in the 1983, the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. “Nineteen eighty-three is a different animal from some of the other wines of the decade,” Lécaillon explains. “It was a heavy crop, with a lot of fruit. There was so much wine in the cellar that the team could not get to everything in a timely fashion, and so there were some lots that started to oxidize a bit, and that, naturally, made the wine bigger.” In tasting, though, there are no off aromas or mushroomy flavors that suggest the wine is fading. If anything, the 1983 is spectacularly beautiful right now, even in the presence of other wines from more highly reputed vintages.’ - Antonio Galloni, Vinous, 96/100 (Mar 2018)
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