Louis Roederer

The house was founded in Reims in 1776. In 1833 Louis Roederer inherited it and gave it his name. Going against the conventions of the time, he began acquiring plots on the finest terroirs in Champagne to secure a long-term supply of grapes and gain control over winegrowing; in 1845 he acquired 15 hectares in the Grand Cru vineyards of Verzenay. In the 1870s the house began exporting its wines to the United States and to Tsar Alexander II of Russia, and in 1876 Louis Roederer II created Cristal for the Tsar. The First World War destroyed more than half of the estate, and Léon Olry-Roederer reconstructed the vineyards; in the 1920s he created a consistent blend of several vintages that formed the basis for Brut Premier. From 1933 the house was run by Camille Olry-Roederer, who was at its helm for 43 years. Her grandson Jean-Claude Rouzaud, an oenologist and agronomist, later took over the running of the estate and consolidated the vineyards. In 2026 the house marks its 250th anniversary and the 150th anniversary of Cristal.

• 1776: founded in Reims
• 1833: Louis Roederer inherits the house and gives it his name
• 1845: 15 hectares acquired in the Grand Cru vineyards of Verzenay
• 1876: Cristal created for Tsar Alexander II
• 1974: Cristal Rosé created by Jean-Claude Rouzaud
• 2021: Collection 242, the first Collection, released in September

Louis Roederer is one of the very few great Champagne houses to remain family-owned and independent. Jean-Claude Rouzaud joined the company in 1967; he later handed control of Champagne Louis Roederer to his son Frédéric and took the role of chairman of the group. Frédéric Rouzaud, the seventh generation of the family, manages the house; as of March 2020 he was its president and CEO. Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon joined Louis Roederer in 1989 and by 1999 had been appointed chef de cave and head of viticulture, the first to take on both roles. As of 2023 he was executive vice president and chef de cave, and the house names him as its cellar master in 2026.

• Frédéric Rouzaud: seventh generation; president and CEO (as of March 2020)
• Jean-Claude Rouzaud: joined in 1967; handed control of the house to Frédéric and became chairman of the group
• Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon: joined 1989; appointed chef de cave and head of viticulture by 1999; executive vice president and chef de cave (as of 2023)

The estate covers 250 hectares on some of Champagne's finest terroirs, the vast majority classified Premier Cru and Grand Cru, spread across the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs in more than 420 plots. The house grows the three traditional varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier. Grapes are picked by hand and each plot is vinified separately. Every Louis Roederer vintage wine comes exclusively from the house's own vines. In its blends the house refers to three historic estates: La Rivière, La Montagne and La Côte. For more than 20 years, under cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, the house has developed a precise approach to viticulture, and with 135 hectares certified it is the largest organic vineyard estate in Champagne. By 2012 the vines for the Blanc de Blancs, Cristal and Cristal Rosé, half of the total holdings, were farmed both organically and biodynamically; in December 2019 biodynamic farming covered 50% of the holdings, with the other 50% organic. Vines for Cristal are trained low at a density of 10,000 vines per hectare, and grapes from vines in their first twenty years are not used for Cristal.

• 250 hectares in more than 420 plots, the vast majority Premier Cru and Grand Cru
• Districts: Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, Côte des Blancs
• 135 hectares certified organic
• Hand harvest and plot-by-plot vinification

Cristal was created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II, who asked Louis Roederer to reserve the house's best cuvée for him every year. To distinguish it, the wine came in a flat-bottomed, transparent lead-crystal bottle, and the brand was named after that material. It was the first cuvée de prestige. Cristal is made only in years of perfect maturity, from around 60% Pinot noir and 40% Chardonnay, and is aged for six years in the cellars and a further eight months after disgorgement. As of 2017 it came only from the house's grand cru vineyards in Verzy, Verzenay, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Avize, Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. In December 2019 the house announced the release of the 2012 vintage, the first Cristal made from 100% biodynamically farmed grapes. Cristal Rosé followed in 1974, created by Jean-Claude Rouzaud from the finest Pinot noir plots in Aÿ and the house's chalkiest Chardonnay terroirs and made by a gentle infusion. In October 2017 the house announced Cristal Vinothèque, a further-aged release, with brut and rosé from the 1995 vintage, and the house also releases Cristal Late Release.

• Created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II; the first cuvée de prestige
• Around 60% Pinot noir and 40% Chardonnay; six years in the cellars plus eight months after disgorgement
• Cristal 2012: the first from 100% biodynamically farmed grapes
• Cristal Rosé: created in 1974 by Jean-Claude Rouzaud

Collection is the house's numbered multi-vintage cuvée. The first edition, Collection 242, was released in September 2021; its number marked the 2017 harvest, the 242nd since the house's founding in 1776, and the blend was 56% wine from 2017, 34% réserve perpétuelle of the 2012 to 2016 vintages and 10% reserve wines aged in oak. At the launch, Lécaillon presented Collection as the replacement for Brut Premier, then the house's best-selling Champagne; the house still lists Brut Premier among its multi-vintage wines. The Perpetual Reserve was started with the 2012 vintage and is enriched each year with wine from the latest harvest. Collection 247, the 247th blend since 1776, is built on the 2022 vintage with reserve wines aged in French oak foudres, draws a third each from the La Rivière, La Montagne and La Côte estates, and spent nearly four years in the cellars. The vintage champagnes are Vintage, Rosé, Blanc de Blancs and Brut Nature, with Hommage à Camille alongside them. Blanc de Blancs Vintage is 100% Chardonnay from hillside plots in Avize on the La Côte estate; the cuvée was first created in 1930 and commercialised in 1950. Rosé Vintage draws on 35 small plots on the La Rivière estate, comes mostly from the house's vines in Cumières, and is made by a long, soft infusion of the Pinot noir. Brut Premier is a blend of around 40% Pinot noir, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier aged for three years in the cellars, and Carte Blanche completes the multi-vintage range.

• Collection 242 (2021): 56% from 2017, 34% réserve perpétuelle, 10% oak-aged reserve wines
• Collection 247: 2022 base; a third each from La Rivière, La Montagne and La Côte
• Vintage range: Vintage, Rosé, Blanc de Blancs, Brut Nature
• Multi-vintage range: Collection, Brut Premier, Carte Blanche

Louis Roederer is owned by the Rouzaud family, and its group holds wine estates beyond Champagne Louis Roederer. These include Champagne Deutz, Delas Frères in the Rhône, Domaines Ott in Provence and the Port producer Ramos Pinto. In Bordeaux the group bought Château de Pez in Saint-Estèphe in 1995 and Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Pauillac in 2007. In California it owns Roederer Estate, Scharffenberger Cellars and Domaine Anderson, together with Merry Edwards Winery, acquired in 2019, and Diamond Creek Vineyards in Napa Valley, acquired in 2020.

The house presents its cuvées as producing 'a wine with a summery character and crystalline elegance,' and its 250th-anniversary text calls all Louis Roederer champagnes 'fine wines for haute cuisine.' At the 2021 Collection launch, Lécaillon summed up the house style as 'purity of fruit; finesse, finesse and finesse.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/homepage, https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/250ans, https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/collection, https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/collection247, and, because the live wine pages sit behind an age and terms gate, Internet Archive copies of https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/cristal (July 2024), https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/cristal-rose (January 2025), https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/rose-vintage (May 2026), https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/blanc-de-blancs-vintage (October 2023) and https://www.louis-roederer.com/en/wine/brut-premier (September 2025). Secondary sources: Decanter (John Stimpfig, 17 November 2017; Georgie Hindle, 7 July 2023; Adam Lechmere, Rouzaud hands Roederer to son; Richard Woodard, March 2020), The Drinks Business (Rupert Millar, 3 December 2019; Patrick Schmitt, 21 July 2021), the San Francisco Chronicle (Esther Mobley, 12 March 2020) and Wine Spectator (James Molesworth, 12 March 2020). Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-10-18