A rare jeroboam of Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal Rose 2002 fetched $18,000 for charitable foundation Grapes for Humanity at the Oct. 3, 2010, Louis Roederer Cristal dinner at Daniel restaurant in New York City. Philanthropist Angeliki Frangou, winner of the 2010 Viola Wheeler Humanitarian Award, was the 3 liter bottle’s generous buyer. Her bid was part of the milestone $300,000 garnered—the largest sum ever raised at a Grapes for Humanity event.
Cristal Rose is Champagne Louis Roederer’s prestige cuvee, its rarest wine made only in exceptional years from grapes grown in the House’s Premier Cru vineyards. A jeroboam of that wine is even rarer, as Louis Roederer produces limited quantities to benefit select charity auctions. The dinner featured five Cristal vintages as well as wines from Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and Adriano Ramos Pinto Port paired with three star Michelin Chef Daniel Boulud’s menu. The funds raised supported Grapes for Humanity’s Haiti Relief Effort and the Viola Wheeler Music Program at the Lavalla School and Orphanage, Cambodia.
Since its founding in 1776, the House of Champagne Louis Roederer’s ( www.louis-roederer.com ) philosophy is defined first and foremost by the art of Champagne making. Such artistry can only be attained when it begins with this kind of uncompromising commitment to the individual vines, where the essence of the final product develops. The House owns over 500 acres of vineyards in prime locations of the Champagne region. Total production is voluntarily limited to about 3 million bottles, nearly the same volume as in the mid-1800s. Today, managed by Madame Camille Olry-Roederer’s great grandson, Frederic Rouzaud, Champagne Louis Roederer’s portfolio also includes Champagne Deutz, Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac, Deuxieme Cru Classe) and Chateau Bernadotte, Chateau Haut-Beausejour and Chateau de Pez, Domaines Ott in Provence, Maison Delas Freres in the Rhone Valley, Roederer Estate in California and Adriano Ramos Pinto in Portugal.
Grapes for Humanity, U.S. ( www.grapesforhumanityus.com ), an internationally recognized charitable foundation, has raised millions of dollars in support of landmine survivors and victims of worldwide conflict and disease.