Champagne house Louis Roederer
The Style of Champagne House Louis Roederer
Champagne house Louis Roederer is a prestigious winery with a centuries-old reputation for excellent champagne. With 240 hectares of vineyards in plots classified as Grand Cru and Premier Cru, Roederer provides about 70% of its own grapes. The house's style is characterized in large part by the proportion of vins de réserve, which age an average of 5 years in oak barrels before being added to the wines. The champagne from Louis Roederer is assembled with a share of reserve wine ranging between 8 and 12%.
Louis Roederer Champagnes
The Louis Roederer Brut Premier is Roederer's best-selling champagne, now succeeded by the Collection. The Collection 242 has an assemblage with about 34 percent vins de réserve from 6 different wine years. A fruity, elegant champagne with great complexity. Among rosé champagne enthusiasts, the Louis Roederer Brut Rosé is a beloved champagne. It is a fresh champagne of beautiful quality with an aroma of red berries and dried fruit. The Louis Roederer Cristal 2009 champagne is a Cuvée de Prestige champagne with a soft, refined taste. A champagne with a special history that began in Tsarist Russia.
The History of Roederer Champagne House
The house has a beautiful history that began in 1776 when it was founded under the name Dubois Père & Fils by Mr. Dubois. Louis Roederer worked as an assistant in the company, and in 1833, he inherited the champagne house. Roederer focused on the international market and successfully tapped into the champagne market in America, England, and Russia, where he could count Tsar Nicholas I among his clients. Sales increased during that period from 100,000 to 2 million bottles per year.
The Story behind 'Cristal' Champagne, the First Cuvée de Prestige in a Crystal Bottle
When the company was continued by his son and namesake Louis Roederer in 1870, the house was the official supplier to Russian Tsar Alexander II. At the request of the Tsar, Roederer produced an exclusive 'aristocratic' champagne that clearly distinguished itself from the champagne consumed by 'the people'. He designed a highly exclusive Cuvée de Prestige in a crystal champagne bottle and named it 'Cristal'. From that moment on, all orders from the Tsar were bottled in this distinctive crystal bottle. Cristal became a huge success among the entire Russian aristocracy. This success came to an end with the Russian Revolution in 1917, which marked the downfall of the Tsarist regime. The American Prohibition also played a role. The consequences were severe; the company lost 80 percent of its revenue overnight. This also meant the end of Cristal.
However, in the 1930s, Cristal was restored to its former glory and reintroduced to the market by Camille Olry-Roederer. Once again, Cristal featured an assemblage of the finest crus, but this time it was a brut champagne in a bottle made of transparent glass.
The Comeback of Cristal, or 'Crissy', Thanks to the Rap and Hip-Hop Scene
Around 2000, Cristal champagne experienced a revival within the rap and hip-hop scene, where it earned the nickname 'Crissy.' Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and Tupac Shakur celebrated the champagne in their rap lyrics and music videos. Tupac even created a 'Crissy' champagne cocktail named 'Thug Passion' and wrote a song of the same name on the 1996 album 'All Eyez on Me,' affectionately praising Cristal. However, this love affair came to an end in 2006 after Roederer's CEO, Frédéric Rouzaud, made negative remarks about the attention Cristal was receiving from the rap scene in an article in The Economist. In response, Jay-Z announced a boycott of Cristal.
The 'Ace of Spades' from Armand de Brignac became his new favorite. In a scene from the music video for Jay-Z's song 'Show Me What You Got,' you can see the rapper sending back a bottle of Cristal while playing poker, only to have a bottle of Armand de Brignac served instead. In 2014, Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter) even acquired a significant stake in this champagne brand from Sovereign Brands.
Camille Olry-Roederer
In 1933, Camille Olry-Roederer took over the reins. She was the wife of Léon Olry-Roederer (the great-nephew of founder Louis Roederer). Camille was a true entrepreneur, much like the famous Madame Clicquot Ponsardin of Veuve Clicquot, one of the great Champagne widows of the 20th century. Camille Olry-Roederer led the Champagne house until 1975 and brought it back to the top among Champagne producers.
Under Camille Olry-Roederer's leadership, the Champagne house experienced steady growth, and the number of vineyards expanded significantly. She acquired, among others, the highly exclusive vineyards in Montagne de Reims and Côte des Blancs. She also successfully reintroduced Cristal to the market, this time not in a crystal bottle but still in clear glass. To protect the champagne from UV light, the bottle is standardly wrapped in golden-yellow cellophane.
Champagne house Louis Roederer is still owned by the Roederer family, with Frédéric Rouzaud, the grandson of Camille Olry-Roederer, now at the helm.