Louis Roederer

The house was founded in Reims in 1776 and remains family-owned and independent, which almost none of the great Champagne houses can still say.

The decision that defines it dates from 1833. That year Louis Roederer, the house's heir, chose to farm his own vineyards rather than buy fruit on contract, which was and remains the norm among the large maisons.

In 1876 he created Cristal for Tsar Alexander II. It was the first prestige cuvée in the history of Champagne: before that bottle, the category did not exist.

Today it holds close to two hundred and forty-one hectares across the Montagne de Reims, the Marne valley and the Côte des Blancs, with more than one hundred and thirty certified: the largest vineyard holding farmed organically and biodynamically in the whole appellation.

The number in the Collection range is not a design flourish: add it to the founding year and you get the bottling year. Collection 243 is 1776 plus 243, that is, 2019.

The cellar master is Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon.