Cristal 2000 Vinotheque 750ml

Disgorged four years ago, with four grams per liter dosage, after a decade sur lattes and six years sur pointes, the 2000 Cristal Vinothèque bursts with notes of golden orchard fruit, mandarin, white flowers and iodine. Full-bodied, ample and powerful, with a deep and layered core, lively acids and a beautifully pearly mousse, it's a long, sapid Champagne that's showing very well today. As Lecaillon observes, the Vinothèque is the house's riposte to "everyone who says Cristal is released too young—with the Vinothèque releases, we've exaggerated the aging process to make Cristal more powerful and more dramatic." And this release is certainly a formidable effort in a vintage impacted by hail in the Montagne de Reims.

Score: 95 points -- William Kelley, The Wine Advocate, 2021