Terroir
Louis Roederer is a champagne house based in Reims, Champagne. In 2013, Louis Roederer’s vineyard covered 240 hectares and included 420 plots. You’ll find the plots in three classic Champagne regions: Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs. According to Roederer, the quality of good wine depends on the quality of the soil. The diversity and fertility of these places provide the champagne house with an extensive and rich pallet.
About Louis Roederer
Louis Roederer inherited the champagne house, formerly known as Dubois Père & Fils under his previous employer, in 1833. In the mid-19th century, he came into possession of some of Champagne’s grand cru vineyards. Louis made it his mission to master the entire process of wine production. This was quite unusual: in fact, other champagne houses were buying their grapes from other farmers. To this day, most of Louis Roederer’s champagne is made with grapes sourced from his own vines.
Frédéric Rouzaud
Louis Roederer has always remained family-owned. Frédéric Rouzaud is the seventh generation to call himself owner and director of the champagne house. He has expanded the empire with 12 more vineyards, all the way from Bordeaux to California.
Sustainable production is very important to Frédéric. According to him, this goes hand in hand with the quality of the wine. That is why currently more than 50% of Roederer estates consist of only organic vineyards. For example, no harmful pesticides are used in the production process.
Cuvée de prestige: Cristal
In 1870, Louis Roederer started exporting champagne to the United States and Russia. At the request of Tsar Alexander II, Roederer produced an exclusive champagne in a crystal bottle: Cristal. The bottle’s design in fact had to be exclusive, so that it was clearly distinguishable from the champagne drunk by the common people. Cristal was a resounding success among Russian aristocrats.
Crissy
As a result of the American Prohibition and the end of the Russian Revolution 1917, Roederer lost 80% of sales. That seemed to be the end of the Cristal, until Camille Olry-Roederer revived the cuvée in the 1930s. However, it was not until around 2000 that it was truly rediscovered by big names in the hip-hop scene. In their raps and music videos, they referred to the champagne as ‘Crissy’.
When Frédéric made negative comments about the attention Cristal received among rappers, Jay-Z decided to boycott Roederer. The music video for the song ‘Show Me What You Got’ even shows him refusing a bottle of Cristal while playing poker and sending the waiter back for a competitor’s champagne! Perhaps that’s for the best. That way, the Cuvée will only be drunk by those who truly appreciate its sublime taste.