A Special Party for a Special Wine: 2015 Cristal

This past Sunday, Cinnamon and I were invited to the pre-release party of the 2015 Louis Roederer "Cristal" Brut Champagne by Jean-Baptiste-Lecaillon, the chef de cave of Champagne Louis Roederer. He was there with Johann Merle, his vineyard manager, whom we were lucky enough to sit with, and the rest of his team. The wine is available for pre-sale now, but won’t arrive until the week of the 19th.

The party was over dinner at Sushi Kusakabe in the financial district of San Francisco, and chef Mitsunori Kusakabe had worked on the pairings with my friend and Japanese language wine writer Yuri Shima. It was an incredible treat. We try to have sushi and Champagne once a week chez Westby, but this was on a completely different planet than our take out and my simple homemade sashimi bowls! Yuri’s knowledge of Louis Roederer’s Champagnes, where she has worked many harvests, and her love of her native cuisine made for some unforgettable pairings.

Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, Yuri Shima, and Gary.

Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon presented the Cristal in context; it was the first tête de cuvée of Champagne, dating back to 1876 when it was commissioned by the Tsar of Russia. The soul of Cristal has remained the same ever since, it is an estate within an estate consisting of vines from the chalkiest mid-slope portions of their vineyard, with only massal-selected vines. In fact, the massals that they use have been kept up since before 1876, the vines today are direct descendants of the plants of that period. Since 2012 they have returned to organic practices in these vineyards—and I say returned since agrochemicals did not exist in 1876.

Cindy Westby and Johann Merle.

The 2015 Louis Roederer “Cristal” Brut Champagne is composed of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay and is treated to 25% fermentation in oak. It did not undergo any malolactic fermentation and was dosed at 7 grams per liter. It is principally from Verzenay, Verzy, Beaumont-sur-Vesle and Aÿ for the Pinot Noir and Avize, Mesnil and Cramant for the Chardonnay. Jean-Baptiste explained that the heat of 2015 was strong, but the trick for Cristal was to pick late nevertheless—they started on the 7th of September and finished on the 20th. Some wines from 2015 come across as green because the flavor maturity did not come as fast as the sugar maturity, and he couldn’t let that happen with Cristal.

We drank this 2015 Cristal with chef Mitsunori Kusakabe’s Hokkaido scallop and sea urchin, his Bluefin fatty tuna roll, his Unagi Shirayaki and a fantastic fish broth umami soup with Kyoto red miso. It was magical. The wine showed extraordinary purity, as Jean Baptiste had explained that he had pushed for as much freshness as he could in this warm vintage. The nose had perfect baguette toast, which developed into hazelnuts and nougat with air. This wine is clean, light and airy in the mouth… And far too easy to drink. The finish is saline and mineral and really tells the tale of the chalk on which it was grown.

What an evening! We won’t soon forget the great experience- thank you Jean-Baptiste!

A toast to you,

Gary Westby