I don’t drink much Cristal, but this was not at all what I expected. It was a firm, steely, imposing wine for several hours. Eventually it opened up, and filled out, with tree fruit and light toast, though it never stopped being an imposing, powerful beast. Is this a phase, or is this what the 2002 Cristal is like? Doesn’t seem like it would be much fun for anyone except a hard-core wine geek (e.g. me).
My 2 cents David: I’ve had a few 02 as well as a few of every vintage released from 98 on. My take is your experience may be an individual bottle variation as that can occur with any of the vintages although my last taste was similar to yours. And yes, I’m also “a hard-core wine geek”.
Here’s my notes from the last visit in June:
2002 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL BRUT- were kind of getting spoiled on Cristal lately having had a bottle of the 09 last week and I tasted the 08 repeatedly at Wallys Grande Marque Champagne event last week; this was another great bottle and maybe the best 02` I’ve had; it had somewhat mature notes of rich and toasty lemon zest with a honey like sweetness and texture; white peach flavors joined in with a touch of saline in the background; it gave and gave generously, still expanding after an hour from opening; simply delicious bubbly.