Louis Roederer factory visit

and yes.....we were here!!!!
thank you to Alcoholic Anonymous ST for arranging this appointment with Louis Roederer :))))

Founded in 1776 they are famous for their CRISTAL champagne
*the one that celebrities shower with....wat a waste!!!!*

look at his eppy eppy face :))))))))))))
the factory was just located in town centre of Reims and about 10 minutes walk from our hotel

the address

as u enter the courtyard of the factory.....u see a statue of Nicholas Tsar II of Russia
he created Cristal champagne and made Louis Roederer the official supplier of wines and champagnes to the imperial court of Russia

hmmmmm he looked so stalin style :P

look at the dome...so beautiful!!!!
it's made entirely from Cristal bottles
how clever!!!! bcoz bottles are transluscent and let lights in...

by the way...all Cristal champagne bottles have flat bottom
so in case anyone would like to poison the Tsar, he can see wat's at the bottom of his bottle
coz u can hide anything including a bomb inside a dark bottle
hence the champagne got its name "CRISTAL"
as in crystal clear

Blandine the PR Manager brought us around touring this place

Bonjour Tsar Nicholas the second.....
why is ur moustache so stiff??? do u starch them every morning???

the cask used for fermentation

these barrels are used for fermentation
they are about 10 feet tall

hand carved and it tells the story of champagne making
so as u walk by this whole row....it tells u the story
from the vineyard to the glass
think I lurve the glass part more :P
*POP!!!!!*

everywhere we turned to....it's all barrels and barrels of GOLDEN LIQUID :))))))))))

the cave or cellar is underground...dunno how many feet deep
and once inside...it's kilometres and kilometres deep in.....
we actually spent 2 hours walking inside
and the SMELL of perfumery sweetness of the wine

I WANNA STAY INSIDE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

some important rooms have this huge doors...it took 2 person to open it

we thought that we were very deep in...but there's more levels down and down and down
endless~~~~~~~~~

once we were down...VOILA!!!!!! streets and tunnels and lanes of bottles champagne sitting on its wooden panel
the workers here turned the bottles manually each day
averagely each day....a worker turns up to 51,000 bottles!!!!
by HAND!!!!!!!

it felt more like bunkers for WAR than a wine cellar hahahahahhaa
this place is HUGE!!!!!
temperature is alwiz 12 degrees and below...with controlled humidity
I think it's colder coz we were wearing our winter jackets, scarves and gloves

then later the bottling section
must wear protective glasses in case

the sound of bottles clashing into each other
and the machinery operating was like orchestra to our ears
hahahahahahaha
with the non stop popping sound as they were popping out the champagnes with its frozen neck
to remove all the sediments collected during the aging process
so u can hear champagnes popping like every second....
just makes us so so so very happy
*ermmm well popping a champagne is alwiz associated with happy events mar.....*

and not the mention the SMELL~~~~~~
I can sleep here....it's so intoxicated-ly awesome think I can get drunk just by smelling it

robotic arms used to transfer the bottled champagne

can u hear the music? can u smell it? are u still with me?
:))))))))))))))

world most boring job......but with the most interesting senses of smell
checking for .........forgotten :P

the labels......the famous CRISTAL labels.......

WAHHHHH it's almost ready......made my heart skipped so much...
looking at all these bottles
I felt like I'm in a VAULT with endless amount of diamonds and GOLD

 

every single bottle of CRISTAL is wrapped with anti UV wrapper
bcoz the bottle is transparent and not dark.....
this is to protect the champagne
why the bottle is transparent? coz Tsar wanna see wat's inside....
again in case if sumone wanna poison him
*well if u done nothing wrong...y u so scared?*

Off topic:
folks, it is important you store your wines/champagnes at dark places.....
if ur wines kena UV/ harsh lights...u can bid au revoir to them
even the lights used in wine chiller are anti UV
so now u know why we dun buy wines at certain places with poor storage?

happy or not? :))))))
so so so happy~~~~~~

all ready to be shipped out to celebrities with too much money to spend :P

and later we sat for another hour drinking this :D

Louis Roederer produces only 3 million bottles a year of 70-80% are brut premiere
*Moet the mass producer makes 35 million bottles a year....so can u imagine the quality control that they have?*

Blandine recommended us to buy Blanc de blanc to bring back but we couldn't find any at the wine shop :(((
super limited until kenot find
nope the factory dun sell champagnes to ppl.......u have to get it outside

a very memorable board with signatures from the world greatest wine makers....
it was some special dinner hosted by Cristal
and each maker dedicated a bottle for this dinner

and JS's sharp eyes spotted this bottle
notice the bottle number
it's 00000
have u seen a bottle of DRC Romanee Conti in this number?

GAWD.......that's like one in a zillion or watever llion

truly a collector's item

we left Louis Roederer feeling more appreciative towards champagne making
all the hardwork, passion and efforts put in.....

and this morning I was reading about CRISTAL at wikipedia
most celebrities, rappers, artists, hip-hop cultures often refers to CRISTAL in their song/conversation
so The Economists interviewed the CEO if this will affect the brand's image...

and I simply lurve his answer...
"What can we do? We can't stop ppl from buying....but I am sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."

WAHAHAHAHAHHAA
now we r sourcing for more champagnes made fr grapes from Ambonnay :D
heeeeeeeeeeeeeeee