Louis Roederer

At the turn of the millennium, Louis Roederer launched their so-called “Plan 2012,” a program devised by chef des caves Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, initiating a revolution in Champagne. “Plan 2012” aimed to take Roederer “back to the roots,” weaning the vineyards off herbicides and synthetic fertilizers and returning to cultivating the soils. Tilling the soils for the first time cut the vines’ superficial root systems, forcing them deeper into the soil, and Roederer’s yields fell by around 30%. By 2012, Roederer had achieved their target of zero herbicide use, and today, 122 hectares are certified organic. At the same time, Lecaillon began introducing biodynamic methods in the house’s vineyards. The house’s first entirely biodynamically farmed cuvée was the 2006 Brut Nature, a collaboration with designer Philippe Starck produced from the Roederer holdings in Cumières. Cristal Rosé followed suit with the 2007 vintage, and Cristal itself with the 2012 vintage. Lecaillon says that farming this way results in deeper root systems and more resilience in warm, dry weather. Vines farmed this way, he adds, also produce ripe fruit with lower sugar levels—an obvious advantage in an era of warmer vintages. Needless to say, in a region dominated by chemical farming since the 1960s, the significance of Roederer’s commitment to organic farming is considerable. So, too, are the challenges to farming this way on such a scale. Champagne is a region of paradoxes as, on the one hand, the most intensely farmed appellation d’origine controlée (AOC) in France, with the highest average yields, and on the other, the AOC with the largest area under organic conversion. Roederer’s decision to embrace sustainable farming points to the way that paradox must ultimately be resolved.

Is Louis Roederer today the greatest of Champagne’s Grandes Marques? Certainly, the quality of wines that chef des caves Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon and his team are releasing, as well as the house’s unparalleled commitment to organic and biodynamic farming, give Roederer a strong claim to status as the region’s leader. This Reims’s reference-point’s style is powerful but unerringly precise, exemplified by its emblematic cuvée, Cristal. But every wine here is worthy of attention: from the flagship non-vintage Brut Premier, which can age with notable grace, to its serious vintage Brut, Blanc de Blancs and Rosé—cuvées that don’t command the same premium as Cristal but benefit from the same attention to detail and top fruit sourcing. And for wine lovers looking to enjoy Roederer’s wines at maturity, there’s Cristal Vinothèque — late-disgorged wines that see longer maturation on the lees before release. If the measure of true greatness is the combination of quality and consistency, Roederer easily passes that test, as every cuvée here is worthy of attention.