Louis Roederer traces back to 1776 in Reims and took its present name in 1833. Seven generations later it remains family-owned and independent, farming around 240 hectares of its own vineyards — much of it now biodynamic, at a scale no one else in Champagne has attempted.

Cristal was created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II, who wanted his champagne in clear glass with a flat bottom — no punt in which an assassin could conceal a device. The bottle has not changed since. It is drawn from a small group of grand cru parcels, all farmed biodynamically, and released only after long ageing on lees and a further rest after disgorgement.

2015 was warm and dry — a solar year that suited deep-rooted biodynamic vines better than most, since they find water where others run short.

White peach and citrus zest over almond and a fine chalky smoke; silken on the palate, almost weightless for all its depth, closing extremely long and saline. The Cristal signature is that contradiction: enormous concentration that never feels heavy.