Cristal is the brand name of a Champagne produced by
Louis RoedererLouis Roederer is a Champagne house based in Reims, France. It was founded in 1776, and has been owned by the property of the Rouzaud family since 1819, which makes it one of the few major Champagne houses to be family owned. It is most famous for producing the premium champagne Cristal...
. Cristal has a flat-bottomed clear, "crystal" bottle, anti-UV
cellophaneCellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, and bacteria makes it useful for food packaging...
wrapper, and gold label.
Cristal was first created in 1876 for
Alexander II of RussiaAlexander II Nikolaevich , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor, or Czar, of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
, and is viewed by many as the first
prestige cuvée. As the political situation in Russia at the time of his rule was unstable, the
tsarTsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or Tzar in English, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins used to designate certain monarchs...
feared assassination. He ordered that the bottles, containing the drink, were made clear to avoid having a bomb hidden in a typical green bottle.
Cristal is the brand name of a Champagne produced by
Louis RoedererLouis Roederer is a Champagne house based in Reims, France. It was founded in 1776, and has been owned by the property of the Rouzaud family since 1819, which makes it one of the few major Champagne houses to be family owned. It is most famous for producing the premium champagne Cristal...
. Cristal has a flat-bottomed clear, "crystal" bottle, anti-UV
cellophaneCellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, and bacteria makes it useful for food packaging...
wrapper, and gold label.
History
Cristal was first created in 1876 for
Alexander II of RussiaAlexander II Nikolaevich , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor, or Czar, of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
, and is viewed by many as the first
prestige cuvée. As the political situation in Russia at the time of his rule was unstable, the
tsarTsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or Tzar in English, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins used to designate certain monarchs...
feared assassination. He ordered that the bottles, containing the drink, were made clear to avoid having a bomb hidden in a typical green bottle. Louis Roederer commissioned a Flemish glassmaker to create a Champagne bottle with a flat bottom. Bottles made from common glass have a bell shaped bottom which makes them strong enough to cope with Champagne's pressure. To create a flat bottomed bottle they had to be made from stronger, clear lead crystal. The Champagne has since become known as "Cristal".
The wine was not commercially available until 1945. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the brand became increasingly associated with
rapRap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music**Crunk music...
and hip-hop culture, with several artists referencing the drink in song lyrics and as part of their public image. In an interview with
The EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in an office in the City of Westminster, London. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843. While The Economist calls itself a...
in 2006, Louis Roederer managing director Frederic Rouzaud said he viewed the attention from rappers with “curiosity and serenity”. Asked if he thought the association would harm the brand, he replied, "that's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."
Production
The 1974 vintage was the first release of a
roséA rosé wine has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.-Skin contact:...
Cristal. The grape composition is an approximately equal blend of
ChardonnayChardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is believed to have originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
and
Pinot NoirPinot noir is a red wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines produced predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...
, while the rosé contains more Pinot Noir, and is coloured with red wine rather than Pinot Noir grape skins, the
saignée method. The 2000 vintage is 55 per cent Pinot Noir and 45 per cent Chardonnay, with a dosage of 10gm/ltr. The annual production of Cristal is 300,000 to 400,000 bottles.