Cristal 2009 released

The 2009 vintage of Louis Roederer’s prestige cuvée, Cristal, has been released at just under £550 a case.

Merchants have begun to offer the 2009 for around £549 per six or just over £1,000 per dozen which means it sits at roughly the same level as the 2006 and 2007.

There are no scores so far although Antonio Galloni rated it 95-96 back in 2010. Prestige cuvée Champagne has been one of the best-performing categories of fine wine in recent years.

Every vintage of Cristal from 2005 backwards has gained in value since release. As Liv-ex pointed out the 1999 has risen 113% between its release in May 2005 and its last trade on the exchange.

Sales at merchants have been good. Julian Campbell, buyer at Justerini & Brooks, told the drinks business that: “Sales are going well, we still have some stock mainly because we’ve only just started offering it, but I don’t expect it to last long.

“Cristal is still a strong brand with a loyal following of customers who like to buy it early and cellar it for a number of years. And it makes sense to do so – vintages older than 2004 trade at considerably higher prices.”

The view was echoed by Philippe Guittard, Champagne buyer at BI, who nonetheless added: “Cristal 2009 has had a successful launch overall – The reception has been good from our clients however, so far, it hasn’t been as successful as the 2007. This is probably due to the economic environment and the lower score received.”

*Due to currency fluctuations the retail price of 2009 Cristal is now higher than the one quoted above.