Collection: Crystal

Cristal is the absolute top wine of the Champagne house Louis Roederer. Many consider Cristal to be one of the World's Best Champagnes; Champagne Expert Richard Juhlin states that you should buy all the Cristal bottles you can get your hands on.

Louis Roederer Cristal is considered to be the first Prestige Cuvee - the best a Champagne house can achieve.

The story of Cristal's creation is interesting; in the late 19th century, the Russian court was an important customer for Louis Roederer, accounting for about a third of sales at the time. On commission from Tsar Alexander II, the champagne house was asked to develop a champagne that would be the Tsar's personal cuvée.

There were certain requirements that had to be met; as the Tsar had been assassinated several times, he was understandably very careful about what he consumed. Therefore, the new Champagne had to be in a clear glass bottle, so that you could tell by the color whether the wine contained poison or bombs. The fear of bombs also meant that the bottom of the bottle had to be flat instead of the indentation that all other champagne bottles have, so that nothing could be hidden under it.

The result was Cristal, which takes its name from the clear crystal bottle that is still used today. Cristal is produced exclusively from grapes from Louis Roederer's own vineyards in the Montagne de Reims, Côte de Blancs and Vallée de la Marne.

Cristal is known to have great aging potential and will often be at its peak 20 years after the harvest year.