Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé, Champagne, 2013, 75cl (Gift box)

Roederer's 2014 Cristal Rosé has turned out beautifully, unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cherries, almonds, citrus fruit and red berries mixed with notions of white flowers and wet chalk. Full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a layered core of fruit and a pillowy mousse, it's deep, racy and electric, concluding with a long, mineral finish. Comparatively open out of the gates, it's no slight to the 2014's seriousness to say that it will drink well while its 2013 counterpart sleeps in the cellar. Deriving from just a handful of the over 39 blocks that inform the regular Cristal 2014, I suspect that its origins have even more to do with the extra dimension it possesses above and beyond its white counterpart than the subtle infusion of Pinot Noir phenolics that give it its delicate pink hat.

- William Kelley, Wine Advocate