Champagne Louis Roederer is located in Reims, France. It has 506 acres of vineyards and only grows Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, two legal grapes. The microclimate in the park is quite stable, so the Champagne remains at a consistent level regardless of the vintage. The history of the winery can be traced back to 1776, when the winery was founded by Dubois and his son. It was not until 1833, when Mr. Louis Roederer inherited the property from his uncle, that the name of the winery was changed to Louis Roederer. It was under his leadership that Champagne Louis Roederer gradually became famous and began to produce Champagne.
In 1868, Champagne Louis Roederer sold more than 2.5 million bottles of Champagne, most of which were exported to Russia (the United States was also one of its exporting countries at the time). After that, Champagne Louis Roederer became the favorite of the Russian Czar. According to the winery’s archives in 1873, in just one year, the winery shipped 666,386 bottles of Champagne to Russia (accounting for 27% of its total production). Three years later, in 1876, at the request of Tsar Alexander II, the winery specially brewed Louis Roederer Cristal champagne for the Russian royal family. In 1917, the Russian October Revolution broke out, and Champagne Louis Roederer lost his largest customer.
Since 1924, the winery has resumed production of Cristal Champagne. The extremely fine brewing process and flawless quality make this wine very expensive and may be one of the most expensive Champagnes in the world. Champagne Louis Roederer and Cristal Champagne are still the royal champagne of the British royal family. It is not difficult to see its prominent position in the minds of Western aristocrats. Cristal Champagne is wrapped in a golden plastic paper that can only be opened before drinking. Because Cristal champagne bottles are clean and transparent, unlike other champagne bottles that are green or brown and cannot block the sun's ultraviolet rays, an additional protective film is required. The quality of Cristal Champagne is extremely delicate. It is said that the wine will go bad after opening the golden plastic paper and leaving it in the sun for 15 minutes, but it can last for at least 20 to 30 years in a dark wine cellar.
Today, Champagne Louis Roederer is one of the few family-owned wineries still operating independently, and is currently managed by Frédéric Rouzaud, son of Jean Claud Rouzaud, who is the seventh generation direct descendant of the winery. He is a descendant of the famous Camille Olry-Roederer. Camille Olry-Roederer took over the winery from 1932 until her death in 1975. Camille Olry-Roederer is almost a household name in France, not only because of her tough management style, but also because she launched one of the most outstanding champagnes at her racecourse, Jamin Champagne. Now, Champagne Louis Roederer is sold to 80 countries and regions around the world every year, with a quantity of more than 2.7 million bottles, including larger production of ordinary Louis Roederer Champagne, small quantities of Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne and Louis Roederer Pink Cristal Champagne. Among them, Pink Crystal Champagne is brewed from Pinot Noir grapes.
Champagne Louis Roederer’s winemaking methods are more flexible than those of other Champagne houses. In some years the winery does full malolactic fermentation, but in other years it does it only partially or not at all, depending entirely on the winemaker's analysis of the grapes. The winery’s winemaking equipment is self-regulating and impossibly clean. All high-quality wines from the winery.
The turmoil associated with the historic tragedies of the early 20th century, especially the First World War, which destroyed more than half of the Louis Roederer estate, led Léon Olry Roederer to decide to rebuild the vineyard. In this crisis-ridden era, he decided to buy grapes to ensure that the family business would not be interrupted. It was during this period that he created multi-vintage champagne. Its taste performance is very stable no matter which year it is. This is today's low-sweetness level one. Champagne (Brut Premier).
🏅 Wine Enthusiast 98 pts
From vineyards that are run organically, this iconic Champagne's latest iteration is as beautiful as ever. Textured, with a mineral undertow, the wine is just beginning to soften and show a balanced maturity.
🏅 Wine & Spirits 98 pts
Ripened to fragrant white-peach flavors in the heat of the 2015 vintage, the biodynamically farmed fruit for Cristal transforms that ripeness into a delicate juiciness, the wine both luscious and youthfully concentrated, almost severe in its structure. None of the wine undergoes malolactic conversion, and a quarter of the base wine ages in oak; particularly in this vintage, Cristal is built for the long haul, rather than for drinking on release. Spicy and sub-tle, this wine's earthiness is incipient, not yet revealed, like a groundnut — not the peanut, but the native-American tuber with a flavor that might literally be described as a pomme de terre (an apple of the earth). Sophisticated and layered, this wine hums with a quiet energy.
🏅 James Suckling 97 pts：
For the warm and dry vintage this has tremendous freshness and elegance. The complex nose of citrus blossom, mint, lemon and lime zest opens up slowly as this aerates in the glass. The wine’s ample structure is still quite firm, which is a vintage characteristic, the mousse very fine but also very lively for an eight-year-old champagne. Cristal fans will love this as it is, but a year or two more in the bottle will do a lot for the very long mineral finish of this youthful masterpiece. A cuvee of 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay, picked from all 45 Cristal vineyard plots. Tasted at the Cristal vertical tasting at the champagne house on July 6th, 2023. Drink from release.
🏅 Wine Spectator 96 pts：
This mouthwatering Champagne has an ethereal quality, with a frame of chiseled acidity and focused precision to the pointillisme-like, vibrant mousse. Yet this shows depth and generous expression, with the finely spun notes of patisserie apple and blackberry fruit opening beautifully on the palate and through the minerally finish, with notes of grated ginger, blood orange granita, salted Marcona almond and anise.
🏅 Wine Advocate 95 pts：
If the 2014 vintage was especially open and demonstrative, the 2015 Cristal is going to require more patience. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of citrus oil, crisp stone fruits, white flowers, crushed mint and subtle hints of buttery pastry, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a deep, concentrated and rather introverted core of fruit framed by chalky extract and animated by a pretty pinpoint mousse. This is a serious, vinous Champagne that has considerable substance to age and may well evolve along the lines of the lovely 1985. Rating:95+
🏅 Decanter 95 pts
An open and inviting nose references cream, oatmeal and Amalfi lemon with the slightest edge of smoke. The palate immediately strikes with a mouthwatering lemon ripeness and a juicy, mouthfilling generosity reminiscent of yellow plum. It stays true to the trademark sleekness of Cristal and speaks of the concentration of 2015. Fine mousse accentuates the fullness and roundness of the wine while the long finish hints at chalky depth which, for now, is dominated by ripe stone fruit and more of that textured, rich notion of oatmeal. Definitely a Cristal to enjoy soon.
