Champagne Louis Roederer has unveiled a rare, limited-edition release of its prestige cuvée Cristal. Named Vinothèque, the champagnes have undergone extended ageing under cork for 10 years in the Roederer cellars, post disgorgement.

Cristal Vinothèque 1995 and Cristal Vinothèque Rosé 1995 were also aged for a decade on the lees, and as a result have a lower dosage of 7g/l compared with the usual 9g/l for the standard Cristal.

Only 400 bottles of Cristal Vinothèque 1995 have been released globally, along with 200 bottles of Cristal Vinothèque Rosé 1995. Allocations for the UK market will be extremely limited, and restricted to high-end on-trade and premium off-trade.

‘The total number of bottles in existence of this “other” Cristal is infinitesimally small, but – fear not – it is not without sequel. Other vintages will follow this,’ said Roederer’s executive vice-president, Michel Janneau.

He admitted that it’s rare for the house to launch a new version of Cristal. The last one was Cristal Rosé, launched in 1976 by Jean-Claude Rouzaud. His son, Frédéric Rouzaud, is now Roederer MD.

Read more at source Imbibe