Brand story
Louis Roederer Cristal Brut
Cristal was born in 1876, when Louis Roederer II created an exclusive cuvée for Tsar Alexander II and presented it in a flat-bottomed, transparent lead-crystal bottle — the first prestige cuvée in Champagne, and the wine that gave the House its name for excellence. A century and a half on, Cristal is still made only in the finest years and sourced exclusively from its own dedicated estate, farmed organically and biodynamically with massal selection, gentle pruning and long fallow periods, in an approach drawn from permaculture. Each vintage the highest-quality plots are selected anew.
Roughly 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, Cristal is aged six years in the House’s cellars and rests a further eight months after disgorgement. The 2016 is a vintage of rare equilibrium — Lécaillon calls it a perfect 50% soil, 50% sun — combining aromatic intensity forged by summer heat with a juicy, saline weave drawn from the chalk and limestone below. It stands with the mature, well-honed years of 2002, 2008 and 2012: pure, precisely structured, and built to hold its freshness for two decades or more. A wine of the earth that reaches for the light.
