The Esteemed Louis Roederer Champagne (10 Best Bottles, Prices In 2024)

Maison Louis Roederer is a famed family-run Champagne house based in Reims, France.

The brand’s prestigious cuvées have an enviable following among wine drinkers, critics, and investors worldwide. 

In fact, its Cristal Champagne is hailed as one of the world’s best sparkling wines - often enjoyed as a luxurious drink at grand celebrations.

Let’s take a tour of the Louis Roederer estate, its wine styles, the best bottles to buy in 2024, and their investment potential. We’ll also look at the winemaking practices and history of the Champagne house.

Louis Roederer Champagne Styles And Characteristics

The house’s diverse range of Champagnes includes:

A. Multi-vintage Champagnes

Here are the multi-vintage blends from Champagne Louis Roederer:

• Brut Premier: The Louis Roederer Brut Premier is a signature blend of 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, and 20% Pinot Meunier base wines and comprises 30% reserve wines.The wine is well structured, complex, and rich with fresh notes and a smooth finish. In 2021, this Champagne was discontinued and was succeeded by Collection 242.
• Collection 242: Collection 242 is a vibrant and contemporary sparkling wine, representing the 242nd blend of the Champagne House since its foundation. It comprises 42% Chardonnay, 36% Pinot Noir, and 22% Pinot Meunier.  The wine is supplemented with 34% reserve wine from the Perpetual Reserve - a collection of past Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vintages from the Roederer estate.Collection 242 is a medium-bodied wine with 12% alcohol. It is vivacious, offering sweet aromas, elegance, and freshness.
• Carte Blanche: A reflection of traditional Champagne, Carte Blanche is made up of 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, and 20% Pinot Meunier.It is fresh and well-balanced with luscious ripeness and soft delectable flavors.

B. Vintage Champagnes

These are the vintage blends from Champagne Louis Roederer:

• Louis Roederer Vintage: It is predominantly a Pinot Noir wine with small quantities of Chardonnay.It is concentrated and deep with intense fruity notes.
• Rose Vintage: The Louis Roederer Rose Vintage Champagne is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.It showcases vibrance with aromatic finesse, flavorful ripeness, and a beautifully plump body.
• Blanc de Blancs Vintage: Made from 100% Chardonnay, the Blanc de Blancs Vintage Champagne presents infinite freshness. It is a slender, luminous wine with smooth textures and good minerality.
• Cristal: Cristal is Louis Roederer’s most legendary Champagne, created to satisfy the tastes of the Russian emperor, Tsar Alexander II, in 1876. It is a blend of around 40% Chardonnay and 60% Pinot Noir grapes.The wine is medium-bodied with 12% alcohol and offers a remarkable balance.

C. Special Editions

Here are the special edition Champagnes released by Louis Roederer:

• Brut Nature: Brut Nature isthe product of an encounter between Maison Louis Roederer and Philippe Starck. It comes in rose and blanc styles - both made from 55% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier, and 20% Chardonnay grapes.The wines are bright, with a good balance of purity, elegance, and smoothness.
• Hommage à Camille: This Champagne blend is a tribute to Camille Olry-Roederer, the wife of Léon Olry Roederer. It comes in two styles - white Chardonnay and red Pinot Noir.The white wine is elegant, with structure, purity, and exceptional freshness. The red wine is delicately perfumed with salinity and precise textures.

10 Exquisite Louis Roederer Champagnes To Buy In 2024

Here are 10 of the best Louis Roederer Champagnes in 2024:

• 1999 Louis Roederer Cristal Vinotheque Edition Brut Rose Millesime
• 2013 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Rose Millesime
• 2008 Louis Roederer Cristal Millesime Brut
• 2018 Louis Roederer Coteaux Champenois 'Hommage à Camille' Rouge
• 2012 Louis Roederer et Philippe Starck Brut Nature Millesime
• 2013 Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs Brut Millesime
• 2014 Louis Roederer Brut Rose Millesime
• 2014 Louis Roederer Vintage Brut
• Louis Roederer Collection Brut
• Louis Roederer Carte Blanche Demi-Sec

1. 1999 Louis Roederer Cristal Vinotheque Edition Brut Rose Millesime, Champagne, France ($2,070)

The 1999 vintage Cristal Rosé is delicate with a mesmerizing bouquet of chocolate, toasted almonds, and earth. The palate is silky with red berry fruit, orange zest, rose petal, and spice flavors.

2. 2013 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Rose Millesime, Champagne, France ($536)

This Cristal Rosé presents fresh citrus, red fruit, and brioche aromas with ripe nectarine, raspberry, almond, and ginger flavors. The wine offers racy acidity, sweet tannins, and spicy nuances with a creamy finish.

3. 2008 Louis Roederer Cristal Millesime Brut, Champagne, France ($368)

The 2008 vintage Cristal is clean and crisp with a youthful mineral finish. It has an alluring perfume of white flowers, toasted spice, and citrus fruit with dried flowers, lemon, almond, white cherry, and ground ginger flavors on the palate.

4. 2018 Louis Roederer Coteaux Champenois 'Hommage à Camille' Rouge, Champagne, France ($208)

The 2018 Hommage à Camille rouge has a charming aroma of red berry fruit, toast, and sweet spice. It showcases good acidity, firm tannins, and red fruit flavors with a creamy finish.

5. 2012 Louis Roederer et Philippe Starck Brut Nature Millesime, Champagne, France ($87)

The wine has a seductive aroma of green apples, peach, toast, white flowers, and mineral notes. On the palate, it displays bright acidity, sunkissed fruit flavors, and terrific balance with a long finish.

6. 2013 Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs Brut Millesime, Champagne, France ($80)

The 2013 vintage Blanc de Blanc presents a beautiful nose of yellow orchard fruit, brioche, and white flowers. It is well-balanced and elegant with apple and lemon nuances.

7. 2014 Louis Roederer Brut Rose Millesime, Champagne, France ($74)

The 2014 Roederer brut Rose delivers aromas of pear, red fruit, white flowers, and brioche. It offers black cherry and blackberry flavors on the palate with zesty acidity and minerality.

8. 2014 Louis Roederer Vintage Brut, Champagne, France ($70)

This 2014 vintage brut is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, showcasing pear, plum, and smoke aromas. It has strong minerality with pear, raspberry, and grapefruit flavors.

9. Louis Roederer Collection Brut, Champagne, France ($54)

The Collection Brut displays baked apple, peach, ginger, bread dough, and lemon tart aromas with delicious orchard fruit and oak spice flavor on the palate. It is fresh with lovely bubbles, well-cut acidity, and a lingering finish.

10. Louis Roederer Carte Blanche Demi-Sec, Champagne, France ($54)

The non-vintage Carte Blanche is a crisp and off-dry sparkling wine. It presents ripe apple, creamed pear, and jasmine flavors with spice and balanced acidity.

Investing in Louis Roederer Champagne

Louis Roederer Champagnes are well-received all over the world.

In fact, the brand and its head winemaker, Jean Baptiste Lecaillon, had received the title of Supreme World Champion for the NV Brut Premier in the 2018 Champagne and Sparkling Wine Championships.

Moreover, Louis Roederer wines are known to age well. The top bottles can be kept for five years to over a decade without losing freshness. Cristal Champagnes can be kept for over 20 years.

You can especially expect the Cristal bottles to increase in price with age. Here are a few examples:

• The 2008 Cristal Millesime Brut’s price increased by 51%, from $243 in January 2020 to $368 in January 2022.
• The 2013 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Rose Millesime appreciated by 56%, from $361 in February 2020 to $563 in January 2022.

If you’re looking to invest in fine wine like a Louis Roederer Champagne, you should do it with the help of a trusted and reliable wine investment company like Vinovest.

Vinovest can help you build a lucrative wine portfolio of investment-grade authentic wines from across the globe.

Let’s also look at the winemaking techniques and the eventful past of this esteemed winery.

Louis Roederer Champagne: Viticulture And Winemaking

Louis Roederer owns 410 parcels of Grand and Premier Cru vineyards. The vineyards totally cover about 240 hectares of land in Montagne de Reims, Marne, and Côte des Blancs in the Champagne region.

The grapes are hand-picked and delicately pressed at the vineyards before being transported to the Louis Roederer estate cellar for fermentation. This allows the grape juice to maintain its characteristic golden hue and clarity.

Most Roederer Champagnes are made using the traditional method, where the second fermentation takes place in the bottle. After fermentation, the wine is aged in large oak casks.

However, the rose styles are made using the saignée method, where a portion of the grape juice meant for red wine is separated to produce rose. 

The Hommage à Camille wines are vinified as still white and red wine. The red wine is matured in oak casks.

A Brief History Of The Louis Roederer Champagne House

Champagne Louis Roederer was founded as Dubois Père & Fils in 1776 and gained its current name after Louis Roederer inherited it from his uncle in 1833. 

Louis Roederer began acquiring the finest Grand Cru vineyards in the Champagne region to improve the winemaking process from the roots. 

By the 1870s, the Champagne House began exporting its fine wines.

The wines found appeal in America and Russia, catching the attention of Tsar Alexander II. Cristal, the first Cuvée de Prestige, was launched as an exclusive Champagne for the Tsar.

In the 1920s, when Louis Roederer’s heir, Léon Olry Roederer launched a multi-vintage wine style to create a highly-balanced wine of uncompromising quality, resulting in the famous NV brut premier.

Leon’s wife, Camille, inherited the estate after his unfortunate death.

Today, Louis Roederer is managed and owned by Frédéric Rouzaud, the son of Camile’s grandson, Jean Claude Rouzaud. Frédéric Rouzaud aims to craft wines using methods that place quality over quantity.

Add A Fantastic Louis Roederer Champagne To Your Collection

Louis Roederer Champagnes are usually on the wishlist of every wine enthusiast. 

With its freshness and elegant bubbles, each bottle is a symbol of luxury, besides being an excellent long-term investment.

So, why wait to add one to your collection?

Vinovest is a leading wine investment company that can help you add a fantastic Louis Roederer Champagne or other fine wines to your collection or investment portfolio.