The luxury champagne Roederer Cristal 2018 is to contain a record number of wines from Grand Cru vineyards. Instead of a cuvée from normally around 45 vineyard parcels, the 2018 will come from 57 vineyards, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon announced. He is the Chef de Caves and also Executive Vice-President of the Roederer Group. It is the first time in more than 20 years that the base wines come from more than 45 vineyards. Normally there were fewer: only the 2002 and 2015 vintages had reached this number.
Roederer has the vineyards all cultivated biodynamically. In 2018, for example, Chardonnay would be added from plots of land that had been used for Roederer's Vintage Blanc de Blancs until now. According to him, the 2018 Cristal will consist of 43 percent Chardonnay, slightly more than usual, and 60 percent Pinot Noir. However, it will only be bottled in a few years. The reason for the decision was the excellent quality of the grapes, said Lécaillon.
(uka /Photo: Roederer)