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What does it take to be the most admired Champagne brand in the world?
With a strong commitment to both consistency and envelope-pushing practices, Louis Roederer, a Champagne house with nearly 250 years of history, still draws reverence from the industry’s leading opinions
- Texto de: Josh Lee
Long stretches of seemingly uninterrupted success can often bring about a feeling of envy among those on the outside. Yet, for Louis Roederer, the Champagne house founded almost 250 years ago, and one of the last great independent family-owned ventures in its industry, a long-running commitment to excellence has led to it being honoured as the Most Admired Champagne Brand for the sixth year in a row. The recipient of the esteemed title, awarded by Drinks International magazine, was decided by a fine cuvée of wine connoisseurs, including writers on the subject, sommeliers, importers and masters of wine, and it’s seen as a solid testament to a label’s ability to balance consistency with new ideas and a deep, deep respect for the terroir it distills into the glass.
For Giles Fallowfield, a wine journalist who oversees the awards: “Getting to the top of the pile in the Most Admired Champagne Brands survey is quite an achievement. Staying there for six consecutive years is another level of challenge, requiring constant vigilance, unwavering investment and a real capacity for innovation.”
Established in 1776 in Reims, France, and still located there today, the house has been imbued with innovation since its early years, with Louis Roederer himself, in 1841, championing what was an envelope-pushing practice back then: to buy his own vineyards so that each stage of the wine production could be controlled. (Still, to this day, many houses rely heavily on bought-in grapes.)
Esa «inversión inquebrantable» que menciona Fallowfield queda patente en las propiedades que Louis Roederer posee actualmente, que abarcan 250 hectáreas, 135 de ellas con certificación ecológica. Cabe señalar, además, que gran parte del atractivo de la firma reside en su cartera de grandes cuvées, entre las que destaca Cristal Rosé, una creación que nuestro editor de vinos, Guy Woodward, calificó de «unicornio». Recientemente celebró su 50.º aniversario, tras haber sido concebido originalmente por Jean-Claude Rouzaud en 1974. Aunque en la mayoría de los champanes rosados la chardonnay y la pinot se vinifican por separado y después se ensamblan, Cristal destaca por la cofermentación de ambas variedades. El resultado es profundo y elegante, todo un homenaje tanto al enfoque innovador de la casa como a la tierra que cultiva.
Frédéric Rouzaud
Al recoger el galardón, el director ejecutivo Frédéric Rouzaud, séptima generación de su familia al frente de la empresa, declaró: «Recibir una vez más un premio tan prestigioso supone un reconocimiento extraordinario al trabajo de todo nuestro equipo. Es un homenaje a nuestro firme compromiso con la preservación del alma de nuestra casa de champán, al tiempo que ampliamos constantemente los límites, reinterpretamos nuestro terruño y perfeccionamos nuestros conocimientos para crear grands vins de Champagne, vinos llenos de emoción que ofrecen una experiencia gustativa única.»
«Más que nunca, nos mantenemos fieles a nuestra visión: una viticultura sostenible, respetuosa con el medio ambiente y dedicada a la búsqueda del sabor».
Want more wine content? Read about the history behind the label’s Cristal Rosé…
