A pink salmon colour with a fine stream of bubbles. On the nose hints of forest fruits and blackberries. On the palate an abundance of cherries and strawberries with a vibrant mid palate. This vintage, from a year where Pinot Noir excelled, has all the fruit-forward intensity you'd expect from such a warm season. This will age tremendously.

In 1974, 100 years after the creation of Cristal, Jean-Claude Rouzaud decided to create the Cristal Rosé cuvée. To achieve this, he selected old-vine Pinot noir grapes from the finest Grand Cru vineyards at Aÿ, which are now cultivated according to biodynamic principles. The unique calcareous clay soil, which gives the grapes an exquisite minerality, enables the vines (in the best years) to attain exceptional fruit maturity, complemented by a crystalline acidity.

The 2008 vintage began with difficulty for Louis Roederer. After a stormy and rainy spring, flowering was late with widespread disease producing small and dense clusters of grapes. The dry summer, though cool with relatively little sunshine, resulted in a maturation process that was both dry and fresh. Exceptionally favourable weather conditions in September then fostered perfect maturation of the grapes, producing wines with an exceptional and natural balance between freshness and a concentration of flavours. As more releases hit the market, 2008 is being considered the next-best vintage since 2002.

Vineyards: 100% Grand Cru | Pinot Noir: Aÿ | Chardonnay: Avize, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
Grape Varieties: 56% Pinot Noir, 44% Chardonnay
Ageing: 6 years on the lees
Dosage: 9 g/l
Drink: Now to 2040