Saturday 28 June 2014

CRISTAL 2004

I don't really know how to approach Cristal. Up until recently my thoughts on Cristal hadn't really crystalised, but it was one morning when I was climbing out of the shower I realised what the allure of Cristal had been. My last entry addressed Cristal as a clear disappoitment. Yes the 2002 was not impressive. In fact it was a standard Cristal where on reflection of the experience of drinking the 96, 97, 2000, 2002 vintages, I was bound to review and make some sort of conclusions to help me orient myself in what Louis Roederer would be producing and what the differentiating characteristics of future releases would manifest as. Yet again, the last bottle of Cristal was a gift. And naturally someone felt that the price tag on the bottle of roughly £200 was a sufficient compensation for a little misdemeanour. Whilst I am trying to reduce the shock of what became known as 'the event' it is crucial to understand what the motivation to gladly offer a bottle of such reputable and highly priced nectar might have been. Through Champagne I studied people's motivation for a decade. I often encountered love, enthusiasm, guilt but on this occassion the person's attempt was a sheer primitive and futile manipulation and a request for forgiveness. And rightly so! If someone tries to prove their point with a big knife in their hand at 3am then to repent, the easiest things to do is to buy someone. It is said that I am easily impress with Champagne, but that is not true. There is a dtifference when someone gives you a bottle to see what you think, and when they are trying to corrupt your intergrity. So what do you do? ACCEPT! In the UK it is impolite not to. But this is not about 'The Event' but the event of drinking the wine. So what was it like? Hmmm, to say that it was another Cristal clear disappointment would be unfair. To say it was outstanding, would be a lie. So what was it like? Well, since 2004 was a different vintage altogether I was expecting this Cristal to show at least some character of the year, but 2002 was not demonstrating anything particularly outstanding either, it turned out to be just another Cristal. So that day, when I was climbing out of the shower, and it was in there, where I reflected on all the years I had tasted, the conclusion is very simple. The problem of Cristal, is that the idea of drinking it, is far more exciting than the drink itself. May be now I will finally have the pleasure to enjoy Cristal for what it is. Hmmm, not rushing into buying it again soon. :)