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We live in an age of luxury, where bespoke

creations pervade the worlds of fashion,

culture - and Champagne. But to trace the

origins of this 21st century phenomenon

we need to travel back in time to the Russian

imperial court of the 1870s. Tsar Alexander II

was already a huge fan of Louis Roederer Champagne by this

time, but there was a problem: it just wasn't exclusive enough

for his hedonistic tastes. So he sent

his cellar master all the way

to Reims to commission a

Champagne to be created

especially for the Tsar alone.

The result, in 1876, was Louis

Roederer Cristal, the world's ˆ rst

prestige cuvée Champagne: a unique wine created from a blend

of grapes picked in the seven ˆ nest vineyards owned by the

house, but bottled only in the ˆ nest years, when the Chardonnay

and Pinot Noir grapes achieved perfect ripeness.

Of course, to please the critical eye of a Tsar, Cristal had to look

the part too. And so a Flemish craftsman was commissioned to

create a new kind of bottle - made of clear crystal and with a

highly innovative ‘ at base. Alexander was pleased with the results

and soon Champagne Louis Roederer was rewarded with the

status of o’ cial supplier to the Russian imperial court.

More than meets the eye

If the world has changed immeasurably since then, Cristal

has maintained its status as a prestige cuvée Champagne of

unparalleled quality and pedigree. Yes, it's still instantly recognisable

for its signature gold label, cellophane

wrapping and transparent crystal

glass bottle - but there's a lot more to

Cristal than this elegant outer skin.

Over the past few decades,

Roederer's family owners have

reinforced the house's almost

obsessive ˆ xation with quality, buying selected vineyard plots

to enhance the quality of its Champagnes. In particular, all of

Roederer's vintage cuvées, including Cristal, are exclusively made

using grapes from the company's own vineyards, in the ˆ nest parts

of the Montagne de Reims, Côte des Blancs and the Marne Valley.

The result in a year such as 2006, the current vintage of Cristal,

is a wine of unrivalled intensity, balance and elegance; one which

The world's � rst ever prestige cuvée Champagne, Louis Roederer Cristal

has impressive royal beginnings and is still winning plaudits today

CRISTAL IS A WINE OF UNRIVALLED

INTENSITY, BALANCE AND ELEGANCE

take me to the

TSARS