vino yes no

I have always dreamt of living off a liquid diet, preferably with unlimited supply of the legendary Cristal… But as fate has it, I never really had it MY way till a chance encounter that united me and the big C.

It happened on a Saturday, a brief Louis Roederer tasting.  As all things beautiful, the moment of enchantment was built up, slow and sweet.  Two glasses of Roederer as a prelude, an NV and a rosé.  These wines had streams of steady tiny bubbles behind the cool frosted glass, slowly rising to the surface.  Tart, toasty with a lovely aroma, the rosé had a surprising taste of freshly peeled oranges, zesty and refreshing. My heart could not bear to finish these drinks, but I so wanted to move on to the highlight - Cristal.

Half unwillingly, I finished the first two champagnes, then braved to the finale.  The 2002 Prestige Cuvée is bottled in clear crystal instead of ordinary glass.  Originally meant for the Russian Tsar, this starry elixir was poured gently into my peasantry glass. The nose was so full of impact, with whirls of floral, honey, citrus, toast, back to the floral notes, continuously evolving.  I raised the glass to my lips, secretly dreading that all this build up would just leave me with disappointment.  

The wine was beautiful.  Like a really good movie or story, it had a good beginning, lots of side plots, and a lovely ending.  Complex with good balance of acidity, floral honey and toast, the part that really impressed me was the length.  The flavours at first subsided, the delicate bubbles leaving me with a cool tingly sensation.  It then boomeranged back with super acidity, teasingly fading away, coming back with big bunches of violets, back and forth again with even more toast.  Too much fun in a glass!

 OOH… Cristal, I love you.  But seriously, what’s the deal with you and the rappers anyways?