Louis Roederer Cristal 1993

Was 1993 a good year in Champagne?

A published vintage chart rates Champagne 1993 3 out of 5 stars. Generally balanced but with somewhat weak fruit from dilution, showing mature honey and toasted almond. Better than its reputation suggests.

A regular-sized crop picked from 8 September, into a September that deteriorated with frequent rain, swollen bunches and rot.

What the critics scored the 1993

One critic score is on record: 91+/100, November 1999.

By score the 1993 ranks 38th of 39 scored Louis Roederer Cristal vintages, 4.9 points below their review-weighted 95.9.

The 1990s by score: 1990 96.6, 1993 91.0, 1994 90.0, 1995 94.2, 1996 96.5, 1997 93.0 and 1999 96.2.

Vibrant, elegant, spicy aromas of orange peel, mace, nutmeg and ground horseradish. Brisk, steely and firm, but expands inexorably to fill the mouth. Strong in extract but quite light on its feet. A sinewy Champagne, and strong for the vintage. Very long and very fine on the finish.

What drinkers rate it

91.5 out of 100 from 21 drinker ratings, the most recent in May 2026.

That is 0.5 points above the critics' score.

Drinker rank: 37th of 44 (tied with 1974). The most-rated vintage has 559 ratings.

5 written notes, August 2021 to May 2026, rating it 83 to 94.

Finally a good bottle!The cork blasted hard!Scent: light spicies, some yellow fruit.Taste: matured red, green and yellow apples, good amount of acid but not stingy. Chalk, some mineral, plum, cherry, raw mango, lemon zest, grilled citrus.

9 months since last bottle.Very weak pop.I keep myself to my previous note.Taste of mostly sour and bitter lime, some mineral, chalk.The acid is pretty stingy.This bottle was one step worse than the last one I had. More sour and stingy.One of the weakest vintages made from Cristal.

Now it was 8 years since i tried this vintage.The fizz was very low, 1 out of 5. The bubbles are not here.Scent: Very damp scent, hard to pick out anything.Taste: A shimmering mixture of yellow citrus tones, and a little bit of lime. Tones of drid apricot. Theres also some mineral and chalk in the background. Its also an overlay of a mixture between red and yellow apples that are oxidated. The flavour register is shrouded. Not the best aftertaste either.Maybe one of the less better vintages from the 90s from Cristal. Not complex, just clean fresh taste. The sadest thing is that the bubbles are totally gone.Still has 2 more bottles to try later this year and see if they are of better quality.Overall a nice champagne but since we all know how a really good Cristal shall taste, this one is still in the shadow.

Opened a bottle last night. It was clearly past its prime. Very little bubble left. Nose and taste still quite enjoyable, but should have opened it a 3-5 years sooner.

Light yellow in color with a golden hue.Strong nose of bread, spices, earth, wet leaves, herbs, yeast, white pepper, lemons, yellow apples and river rocks.Medium plus in body with medium acidity and soft, small bubbles.Dry on the palate with light citrus, over ripen apples, spices, yeast, bread, river rocks, herbs and white pepper.Short finish with limes.This 28 year old Champagne is still delicious, although probably on its last leg.Showing great complexity with a nice mouthfeel. Soft and elegant. Not much fruit is left, but enough to make it tangy and interesting. Good by itself or with food. I paired it with caviar and good friends. Very tasty, especially with the caviar. 12% alcohol by volume.92 points.$550.

The 1993 against its neighbours

The 1993 beside its 4 nearest recorded years.

Here, by score, it places 4th of 5.