At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Champagne, France
- Home city
- Reims
- Producer type
- Independent, family run Champagne house
- Named cuvée
- Cristal
- Defining feature
- Biodynamic vineyard farming
The Producer
Louis Roederer farms vineyards using biodynamic principles and remains one of the few independent, family run Champagne houses. Based in Reims, it produces sparkling cuvées under several named lines, including Cristal.
Place
Reims is the house's home city in Champagne. The vineyard estate spans 244 hectares. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier form Champagne's principal grape framework, and the labels distinguish Collection, Vintage, Blanc de Blancs and rosé styles.
Soil And Site
Louis Roederer farms 75 hectares using biodynamic principles. The estate is the largest biodynamic estate in Champagne. Biodynamic farming treats the vineyard as a living system, using preparations and timed field work to care for soil and vines.
Story
Dubois Père & Fils was founded in 1776. Louis Roederer inherited the company from his uncle in 1833 and renamed it after himself. The label changed from the family firm's original name to Louis Roederer, the name carried by the house today. The company remains one of the few independent, family run Champagne houses.
Vineyards And Cellar
The Blanc de Blancs cuvée is partly vinified in oak casks, with 28% of the wine receiving that treatment. It undergoes no malolactic fermentation, is bottle aged for 5 years, and rests for a further 8 months after disgorgement. Oak cask vinification allows gentle oxygen exchange and can broaden texture, while avoiding malolactic fermentation preserves malic acidity. Disgorgement removes the lees from a sparkling wine, and the cuvée is drawn off at low pressure to create rounder, smoother effervescence.
Wines
The range is organized by bottle style. Collection, Vintage, Rosé Vintage, Blanc de Blancs Vintage, Carte Blanche, Cristal and Cristal Rosé make up the named lines. Vintage marks a harvest year, Blanc de Blancs names a white grape cuvée, and Rosé Vintage and Cristal Rosé are pink sparkling styles. Collection 246 is a sparkling cuvée with 7 g/L dosage, the sugar addition after disgorgement that sets final sweetness.
In The Glass
Cristal 2016 opens with salt, licorice, lavender, chamomile, macaroon and wild strawberries. The palate is savory, almost nutty, and closes with a stentorian, stony finish.
Blanc de Blancs 2016 brings jasmine and orange blossom with lemon zest and wheat. Iodine freshness, sea spray, sea breeze and powdered chalk carry through the wine.
A Bottle To Understand It
Open with Collection 246. It combines 54% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 11% Meunier. Lemongrass and nectarine lead into chalky purity, while smoke and flint mark the finish with a bittersweet grapefruit grip. The three grape varieties appear together in one bottle, while Blanc de Blancs and Rosé Vintage name separate styles elsewhere in the range.
Anecdote
In 1876, Tsar Alexander II pointed out to his sommelier that the opaque glass of a standard Champagne bottle hid its beautiful colour and effervescence. He asked Louis Roederer to serve his personal cuvée in transparent crystal glass bottles with a flat bottom. The clear glass exposed the colour and bubbles, while the flat bottom prevented hidden explosives. Louis Roederer created Cristal for the Tsar after the request. The request concerned both the bottle's transparency and its flat base design.
Final Word
Louis Roederer remains one of the few independent, family run Champagne houses.