Grape Varieties: 55% Pinot noir - 45% Chardonnay.

Harvesting: An extraordinary year that brought together all the factors that make for a great Champagne year: constantly warm temperatures without excessive heat or sun preceded by a markedly mild winter; a  reduction in  rainfall (about 20%) during the growth cycle; cool  nights and a  cold dry north-easterly wind from August to September. These exceptionally favourable conditions combined meant that the grapes matured perfectly and their flavours were nicely concentrated. Harvesting  started  12  September  for  the  Chardonnays  with  an  average  sugar  concentration superior to 11% natural alcohol.

Wine making and maturing: 20% of wines matured in oak casks with weekly batonnage. No malolactic fermentation. Cristal is produced using harvests from the finest vineyards of Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs. The wines undergo an  average  of  5  years  maturation  in  cellars  and  rest  8 months after  disgorgement  to  perfect  its  maturity. Dosage of between 8 and 10 g/l is adapted to each vintage.

Tasting Notes: "An intense delicate wine that reveals a precise, pure combination of sugared flowers, cocoas,  finely toasted hazelnuts, and candied citrus fruits. The texture is infinitely silky, concentrated and  flavoursome with an explosion of ripe fruit, red fruit, white chocolate, caramel and viennoiserie  typical of Cristal. It is a powerful and elegant wine with a crescendo of sensations that attains a  true harmony of flavours and perfect integration. The end is fresh with a fine bitterness which  almost lends the wine "crispness" ". Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon.

Alcohol: 12°C.

Accompaniments: Scallops, caviar with citrus, half-smoked salmon, chardonnay lobster and rhubarb, spider crab and fennel, oysters with a champagne zabaglione, oyster tartare chipolatas with chives, marinated raw fish.  Didier Elena, 2-star Michelin chef, Phillipe Jamesse, head sommelier at the Château Les Crayères.