Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal 2012 Vintage

Description

Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal is Roederer’s flagship, luxury cuvée Champagne.

Established in 1776, Champagne Louis Roederer is one of the few remaining completely independent, family owned Champagne houses. By 1886 the House had achieved such a reputation for quality that the second Louis Roederer was asked by Tsar Alexander II to create Cristal for the exclusive use of the Russian Tsars, and in so doing created the first Cuvée de Prestige. Each bottle of Cristal has a flat bottom and clear glass because the Tsar was worried about someone placing explosives in the punt or of being poisoned by his enemies. In this way it was easier to see if the bottle had been tampered with n any way. The iconic yellow cellophone wrapper was added later to protect the wine from sunlight.

Champagne Louis Roederer owns just over 200 hectares of vineyards located in the finest areas of Champagne – Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs. Each vineyard is situated in the finest sites, with the plots ranking between 95% and 100% on the Echelle des Crus. This makes Roederer self sufficient for 100% of its vintage styles, and provides two-thirds of its production for Brut Premier. Such a high proportion of estate grapes is very unusual in Champagne, and ensures superior quality at all stages from grape to glass. Cristal is wine made exclusively from grapes grown in Louis Roederer’s Grand Crus vineyards. The Pinot Noir comes from the villages of Verzenay, Verzy, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ; and the Chardonnay from Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Cramant and Oger. The oldest vineyards with the deepest root-system are selected to make Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal; they produce lower yields, more concentration and aromatic wines with high maturity and high acidity. A percentage of the wines are matured in oak casks with weekly batonnage. There is no malolactic fermentation. The wines undergo an average of five years maturation in cellars and rest eight months on the cork after disgorgement to perfect its maturity.

Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal 2012 is the first vintage to be 100% biodynamic. It is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay with a residual sugar of 7.5 g/L. The wine does not under any malolactic fermentation.

Cristal is suitable for vegetarians.