Heritage

A new chapter under Frédéric Rouzaud and Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon

Alongside Frédéric Rouzaud, the Cellar Master Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon has led winemaking and vineyard direction for more than 20 years. Under his leadership, Champagne Louis Roederer has been practicing a precise, sustainable and constantly evolving approach to viticulture, becoming the largest organic vineyard estate in the Champagne region, with 135 hectares certified. Attention to detail highlights the character of individual plots, and the same precision is mirrored in the winery, where separate plot vinification preserves the distinct voice and identity of every parcel.

This close attention to nature has also driven Rouzaud and Lécaillon to rethink the wines. Recognizing that climate change had affected the Champagne region over the past 30 years, they saw an opportunity: by harvesting riper grapes in earlier vintages, it became possible to produce a vintage-driven champagne more often. This desire for freedom, and to elevate the quality of the multi-vintage blends, led to the creation of Collection, described by Rouzaud as “vibrant and contemporary”. Lécaillon has also refined the pioneering “gentle infusion” technique for Cristal Rosé, first developed by Jean-Claude Rouzaud, giving the wine its distinctive powdery texture and saline freshness.

Region and Vineyards

A Vineyard Shaped by Terroir

Louis Roederer is based in Reims, at the heart of Champagne, a region known for a unique combination of chalky soils, cool climate and centuries of expertise giving its wines their distinctive character. Its vineyards span the region’s key growing areas: the Montagne de Reims, known for its structured Pinot Noir; the Vallée de la Marne, valued for ripe fruit and breadth; and the Côte des Blancs, the source of fine, chalk-driven Chardonnay.

Patiently built up over generations, the estate covers 250 hectares, spanning more than 420 carefully selected plots, with the vast majority classified as Premiers Crus and Grands Crus. This heritage lies at the core of the house’s distinctive winegrowing identity, its creative freedom and its ability to think and act for the long term.

Rooted in Ownership, Strengthened by Partnership

Louis Roederer’s vineyard ownership supports around 70% of its multi-vintage production, with all Vintage and Cristal cuvées produced exclusively from its own vineyards, allowing for exceptional precision in shaping each wine’s character. The remaining grapes come from a selected network of long-term partner growers, chosen for the quality of their fruit and their shared commitment to the House’s philosophy.

Collection reflects this precision at scale. The majority of its grapes come from the House’s own plots, drawn equally from the historic La Rivière, La Montagne and La Côte estates, and complemented by fruit from long-term partner growers selected from “Heart of the Terroir”. Together, these plots capture the diversity of Louis Roederer’s terroirs.

Viticulture and Winemaking

Viticulture Beyond Certification: A Genuine Commitment

Champagne Louis Roederer has been a pioneer of organic and biodynamic viticulture in Champagne. Its vineyards have held Viticulture Durable Champagne (VDC) and Haute Valeur Environnementale Level 3 certification since 2014 and over half of the estate vineyards (135 hectares) are certified organic. Across the vineyards, the house follows organic, biodynamic, regenerative and permaculture practices.

This approach is not positioned as a trend, but as a route to greater fruit quality and deeper terroir expression. Biodiversity, soil health, hand work and low-impact cultivation are central to the way Louis Roederer manages its vineyard heritage.

The Cellar: Precision Meets Curiosity

In Louis Roederer’s cellars, grapes from every plot are vinified separately, preserved parcel by parcel before blending to retain the distinct voice of each site. Central to the House’s style is its Perpetual Reserve, established in 2012 and enriched each year with wine from the latest harvest. The freshness it brings is complemented by oak-aged reserve wines that form the House’s true signature, lending softness and delicate toasted notes to the blend. Ageing times vary by cuvée: Collection matures in the cellars for close to four years, while the Vintage range typically spends four years on lees, and Cristal Rosé Vinothèque, aged for around ten years before disgorgement and a further ten on the cork, shows just how far the House will go in pursuit of maturity and complexity. For Louis Roederer, the truest luxury is time: extended, unhurried, and given generously to the vine, the wine and the craft.

Styles of Wine

From the freshness of Collection to the depth of Cristal, Louis Roederer’s range reveals the many faces of a single, unmistakable style.

Collection is a multi-vintage blend enriched by the Perpetual Reserve, a continuously evolving reserve created in 2012 that lends freshness and balance. Alongside this, oak-aged reserve wines bring texture, depth and savoury complexity. Together, the two elements strike a balance between vibrancy and maturity, resulting in a wine defined as much by consistency of house style as by the character of each individual release.

Vintage Brut draws its structure and power from the historic Pinot Noir vineyards of Verzy in the Montagne de Reims, balanced by Chardonnay sourced from Chouilly in the Côte des Blancs. A portion of the wine is matured in wood, allowing it to develop a structured, intense character that rewards patience. Vintage Rosé is rooted in the historic Pinot Noir vineyards of Cumières, balanced by Chardonnay from Chouilly. Crafted using Roederer’s signature “infusion” technique, it achieves its colour and juicy red-fruit character while retaining a bright, saline freshness. Blanc de Blancs is rooted entirely in the Grand Cru Chardonnay of Avize in the Côte des Blancs, drawn off at lower pressure to preserve a soft, rounded effervescence. The absence of malolactic fermentation, together with a portion vinified in oak, ensures the development of the finesse, minerality and chalky character that define its origin.

Cristal

Cristal is the jewel in the crown of Louis Roederer’s portfolio, created in 1876 at the request of Tsar Alexander II. The grapes are sourced from carefully selected plots in seven Grand Cru vineyards across the Montagne de Reims, the Marne Valley and the Côte des Blancs, contributing power and depth to the blend. Produced only in years of perfect maturity, it undergoes partial oak vinification with no malolactic fermentation, developing the purity, chalky minerality and tension it is known for.

Cristal Rosé is the sister cuvée to Cristal, created in 1974 by Jean-Claude Rouzaud from old-vine Pinot Noir grown on the Grand Cru vineyards of Aÿ. Crafted using Roederer’s signature “infusion” technique, a gentle maceration that extracts colour and ripe fruit character while preserving freshness, it captures the same purity and precision as its sibling, expressed through a distinctly rosé character.

Both Cristal and Cristal Rosé evolve beautifully over decades, gaining complexity and depth without ever losing their signature freshness and tension.

Louis Roederer’s wines are united not by uniformity, but by a shared devotion to terroir, patience and craft. Each cuvée is a distinct expression of the same philosophy, yet all share the precision, fruit purity and texture that contribute to their gastronomic appeal.

The Trade’s Most Admired Champagne House

Louis Roederer holds a benchmark position within the UK wine trade, distributed by Maisons Marques et Domaines and consistently ranked among the most admired Champagne houses by trade professionals worldwide. For seven consecutive years, it has ranked first in Drinks International’s Most Admired Champagne Brands survey, a distinction voted on by hundreds of sommeliers, buyers and specialist writers. This enduring recognition reflects the trade’s confidence in the House’s quality, consistency and craftsmanship.

Visit Champagne Louis Roederer’s website.