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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 rst
prestige cuvée Champagne: a unique wine created from a blend
of grapes picked in the seven nest vineyards owned by the
house, but bottled only in the 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 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 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