Friday poll: is '08/'09 Cristal or '06 Taittinger BdB

08/09 Cristal worth 2x the price of '06 Taittinger BdB?

Do you think the '08/'09 Cristal is worth about 2x the price of '06 Taittinger BdB?

Waiting for someone to say “flawed poll”

Here in Alberta, Canada '08 Cristal is only 20% more than '06 Taittinger Comtes BdB

I like Comtes more than Cristal anyway, so…

Blake B’s vote should count twice.
I’m curious to see what he says

I did vote for Cristal, but they are two very different wines, and I have both in my cellar.

Cristal is rarely my first choice, but the 2008 is one of the best young bottles of Champagne I’ve ever had. It’s just a killer vintage overall. Even the 2008 vintage Veuve is very impressive.

I prefer '09 Cristal to '06 Taittinger by a fair margin but I’d be hard pressed to say it’s “worth it” to pay an extra $100/bottle.

My vote just broke the tie.

Yes. The two Cristals are not the same wine, but I have had and continue to own both. I long sold off all of my 06 Comtes, as I don’t think it’s as grand as some people do. But for the care that Roederer takes in their farming, and the balance of that 2009 Cristal shows it, I can support the price differential. I do though wish Roederer would get the hell rid of the packaging they use for Cristal–it’s a challenging environmental nightmare of material to deal with as the consumer.

I never really get the notion of one wine being X times better than another wine. I’m not criticizing the post or poll, but the concept just doesn’t really work in my head.

I like both wines a lot, and maybe Cristal slightly more. It’s a flashier wine with more Wow factor, anyway.

I do think that usually, as you get up to the high quality levels of wine, cars, watches, and other luxury categories, the marginal price increases get steeper. You just have to understand that’s the deal much of the time. If you want DRC, you’re not going to get it at twice the price of a wine half as good as it.

Agree with Seiber. Also, 08 Cristal > all.

I suspect a lot of this depends on when you plan to drink the wines. For drinking now, to my taste, the '08 Cristal is slightly better than '06 Comtes (agreeing with Chris here), but nowhere near worth the price difference. With considerable bottle age, I expect that to change. And yes, very different wines.

For those who struggle with the “how many times better is Wine A than Wine B” notion, maybe another way to think of it is this:

If you were given the choice of receiving (1) a bottle of the 06 Comptes, plus another bottle of wine you really like which costs $100, or (2) a bottle of 09 Cristal, which would you choose?

When I think about it that way, I’d probably choose option (1). Though I’d be perfectly happy with (2).

Depends on which stemware you will be using.

It’s pretty neck and neck. I thought it would have been one-sided.

Price is no impediment.

No wrong answers there! I think that as much as one has in their cellar, it’s hard not to look at what one doesn’t. This board doesn’t really help either, lol. I think at some point, if one is buying what they feel is great, he or she should feel confident in their choices. If not, it’s probably a sign to slow down on collecting (and get out and drink more). I also believe in diversity in crafting a cellar, if one is used to buying broad and shallow in quantity, opt to go deep on a few select wines and vice versa.

Krug or Cristal or Comtes? I wish all difficult choices were that delicious!

What if the question had been like vintages…08 Comtes vs. 08 Cristal at 2x the price?

Not only are Cristal and Comte very different wines, comparing 06 vs. 08/09 Cristal seems very unfair.

I will say 2009 Cristal is stunning, went to a 200 person event where we drank about 15 cases of 2009 Cristal…its pretty epic stuff, have not had the 2008, but 2009 is no slouch of a vintage.

Sounds like an awesome event. Where was it held?

Local WA winery. All you could drink Cristal and all you could eat caviar on blini or points. There was always 20 bottles on the bar, pretty crazy.

Best event I’ve been to in a while, and pretty sure for a while.

I dont know if I can do all you can eat caviar but all you can drink cristal. Wow!