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| Louis Roederer |
| Reims France |
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Louis Roederer Champagne
Louis Roederer champagne is always held to the highest standards, no matter which label: vintage, non-vintage, or their prestige cuvee, Cristal. The elegance and creaminess are trademarks of the fruity, full bodied blends. Louis Roederer's non-vintage Brut Premier tends to be especially reasonably priced for the quality. Additional information about Louis Roederer's Cristal may be found in our Cristal Champagne report.
Louis Roederer is one of the largest family owned Champagne houses in France. They have large vineyard holdings, supplying more than 70% of their production needs. The Roederer House has a rich history including the first Prestige Cuvee made exclusively for the Russian Tsar, Alexander II. The Roederer brand maintains a reputation of high quality and is widely recognizable and widely distributed.
Louis Roederer Champagne Collection
Dry and Sweet
Louis Roederer offers both dry and sweet champagne labels. Their dry champagne is presented first followed by their sweeter labels.
Louis Roederer Dry Styles
Non-Vintage
Louis Roederer Brut Premier is their house style champagne. It accounts for a significant part of their overall production. The following link provides a review, tasting notes, retail price, and ratings by Champagne 411, Wine Enthusiast, and/or Wine Spectator.
Vintage Brut
Louis Roederer offers three types of vintage champagne: basic, rose', and blanc de blancs. Recent Louis Roederer vintages are listed below. Click on a year to find a review, tasting notes, retail price, and ratings by Champagne 411, Wine Enthusiast, and/or Wine Spectator.
- Basic Brut
- Rose'
- Blanc de Blancs
Vintage Prestige Cuvee - Cristal
Cristal is Louis Roederer's prestige cuvee champagne. Our Cristal Champagne report provides a review, ratings, and a detailed descriptions of what Louis Roederer offers in a prestige cuvee.
Louis Roederer Sweeter Styles
Louis Roederer offers three demi-sec labels, including a sec, extra dry, and a demi-sec rose', for those who prefer a sweeter champagne experience. Our Sweet Champagne report compares the dosage of these labels.
Louis Roederer History
Louis Roederer was originally founded about 1776 as Dubois Père & Fils. Nicolas Schreider from the Alsace region came to work with the Dubois family and eventually purchased the company. Nicolas Schreider's nephew, Louis Roederer joined his uncle at the company in 1827. When Nicolas died in 1833, Louis inherited the Champagne House and gave it his own name “Louis Roederer.”
Louis Roederer II eventually inherited the Roederer Champagne House. In the 1870s he began exporting the wine. Early links with Russian court led to the creation of Cristal, Roederer’s famous Prestige Cuvee in 1876. Cristal was originally sweet, unlike the current dry (Brut) style. Cristal was commissioned by Russian Tsar Alexander II who wanted it in clear glass crystal so that it would not stand out, hence the name Cristal. Another unusual feature of the crystal bottle is that they are so strong they do not need a punt, the indentation found in the bottom of most champagne bottles. Rumor has it that the Tsar requested a bottle without a punt so his enemies could not hide something lethal in the indentation and it also helped reassure the Tsar that the wine was authentic. Cristal is considered the first Prestige Cuvee of Champagne, but was not available for commercial purchase until the mid 1940s. Dom Perignon is considered the first commercially available Prestige Cuvee of brut champagne (release for sale in 1936).
In 1917 the Russian Revolution resulted in the deposition of the Tsar and brought about the loss of a major Roederer market. In spite of this setback, the champagne house managed to survive and ultimately thrive. Louis Roederer's great nephew, Leon Orly-Roederer, operated the house until his death in 1932.
Camille Orly-Roederer, Leon's widow, took over the Champagne house after her husband's death. She guided it through the Great Depression and war years. She rebuilt the business and purchased numerous vineyards when many others were selling. This ultimately lead to Louis Roederer's extensive vineyard holdings. Camille was also responsible for popularizing Cristal, making it commercially available in 1945. She continued to manage the house until 1975.
Jean-Claude Rouzaud, Camille's grandson, managed the house from 1975 until 2006. By the mid 1990s, about 444 acres supplied 75% of requirements, making Roederer uniquely independent. He also continued to expand the family holdings including opening Roederer Estates in California as well as wineries in Bordeaux and other areas. Louis Roederer is still family owned and currently run by Frederic Rouzaud, Camille’s great grandson, since 2006. Roederer produces considerably more Cuvée vintages than most Champagne houses except for substandard years.
The current Roederer holdings of over 500 acres include vineyards all three major Champagne districts, The Montagne de Reims, Cote des Blancs and the Vallee de la Marne. Principles of biodiversity and biodynamic cultivation are increasingly being incorporated. Great care is taken to ensure the purity of the wine throughout the entire growing and winemaking process. Grapes are hand harvested in buckets and pressed at the harvest sites. Fruit from each plot is vinified separately with each wine tasted frequently and classified according to specific characteristics throughout vinification.
Roederer has recently incorporated a number on the back label of their bottles. There is a section on the Roederer website where the number can be entered for authentication. Information regarding bottling and disgorgement year are included as well as harvest information, grape composition percentages, vinification information, aging time and tasting notes. There is also a QR code next to the number. Roederer has a downloadable app to scan the code to obtain the information.
Louis Roederer's Cristal brand has a history of it's own. Go to our Cristal History report for more on the history of Louis Roederer.
More On Louis Roederer
About
Our About Louis Roederer report includes general information about the champagne house and their key people.
Contact and Visitor Information
Contact and possible tour information is described in our Contact Louis Roederer report.
Cristal
Our Cristal Champagne report contains detailed information on Louis Roederer's pristege cuvee brand and collection of Cristal offerings.
Official Website
The official website is http://www.louis-roederer.com.
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