{"id":3643,"date":"2025-04-13T09:13:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T07:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/?post_type=product&p=3643"},"modified":"2025-04-13T09:25:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T07:25:26","slug":"cristallast-czarcuvee","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/produit\/cristallast-czarcuvee\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristal\u00a0\u00bbLast Czar\u00a0\u00bbCuvee"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Last Czars<\/b><\/i>\u00a0is a six-part English-language\u00a0docudrama<\/a>\u00a0that premiered on\u00a0Netflix<\/a>\u00a0on July 3, 2019.<\/p>\n

The series follows the reign of\u00a0Nicholas II<\/a>, the last emperor of Russia’s\u00a0Romanov Dynasty<\/a>, from his accession to the throne in 1894 to his execution along with the Romanov family in 1918<\/p>\n

The format of\u00a0The Last Czars<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is a mixture of dramatisation, with lavish costumes and sets, alongside contemporary photographs and movie-reel footage, and talking heads, including\u00a0Simon Sebag Montefiore<\/a>,\u00a0Dr Pablo de Orellano<\/a>\u00a0of King\u2019s College London and\u00a0Dr Philippa Hetherington<\/a>\u00a0of University College London. So far, so interesting\u2026<\/p>\n

A \u2018mature content\u2019 warning flashed on screen at the beginning, and I assumed it must refer to the violence associated with the Revolution and the brutality of the family\u2019s execution in an Ekaterinburg basement. But no! Early on, the sex scenes begin. We see Nicholas and Alexandra undressing each other on their wedding night then writhing naked on the imperial bed.<\/p>\n

And once Rasputin arrives on the scene, it turns into a shagfest, with orgies by the score. I almost feared they were going to have Rasputin and Alexandra humping against a palace wall, as satirists at the time portrayed. It stopped short of that, but did show her leaning her head on his shoulder and embracing him in ways the austere Alexandra, ever-conscious of her position, would never have countenanced.<\/p>\n

In the final episode, it shows Maria, the tsar\u2019s third daughter, caught stripping off with a guard in the Ipatiev House. This is based on\u00a0a tiny footnote in history<\/a>, which inspired a scene I include in my novel\u00a0The Lost Daughter<\/a><\/em>. The guard in question, Ivan Skorokhodov, is said to have brought Maria a birthday cake in June 1918. She went out to the passageway to thank him and was caught in what the commandant of the guards called \u201ccompromising circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n

Maria was deeply religious, and a tsar\u2019s daughter: at most, this might have involved a kiss. To portray her eager to have sex with a lower-class guard is taking several liberties too far. I\u2019m sure Simon Montefiore would not have approved such a scene but you can imagine a studio exec looking at the original shooting script and saying \u201cWe need more sex. Where can we spice it up?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Poster<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I wish just a part of the budget they spent on glitzy palace sets, crown jewels, period cars and location filming in Vilnius, Lithuania and Rundale, Latvia, had been spent on better scriptwriters.<\/p>\n

The dialogue is clunky and \u2018on the nose\u2019. \u201cTelegram the head of the duma. Tell him he can have what he wants,\u201d says Nicholas after the 1917 Revolution. And the F-word is used often: \u201cWe cannot afford any fuck-up,\u201d says\u00a0Yacob Yurovsky<\/a>\u00a0to his execution squad. I yearned for the quality of writing found in\u00a0The Crown.\u00a0<\/em>The story of the Romanovs is tragic and compelling, and it\u2019s been under-served by dramatists since the 1971 movie\u00a0Nicholas and Alexandra<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

On the whole, the history in\u00a0The Last Czars<\/em>\u00a0is accurate, although the (Russian state-owned)\u00a0Russia Beyond website<\/a>\u00a0lists its \u201c48 most glaring mistakes\u201d. Some characters have been stripped out, presumably to avoid over-complicating the story: this is particularly notable in the execution scene, where only\u00a0Dr Eugene Botkin<\/a>\u00a0joins the family and not the other three servants we know were present<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cristal<\/b>\u00a0is the flagship\u00a0cuv\u00e9e<\/a><\/i>\u00a0of\u00a0Champagne Louis Roederer<\/a>, created in 1876 for\u00a0Alexander II<\/a>,\u00a0tsar<\/a> of Russia.<\/p>\n

in popularity with the Russian nobility from 1855 onwards. An especially popular brand was Louis Roederer’s, who shipped a third of his production to Russia.<\/p>\n

Cristal was first created for\u00a0Alexander II of Russia<\/a>, and is viewed by many as the first\u00a0prestige cuv\u00e9e<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/sup>As the political situation in Russia at the time of his rule was unstable, the Tsar feared assassination. *<\/p>\n

Thus when he visited Paris in 1867 for the Exposition Universelle<\/a>, the Tsar ordered that champagne bottles for the lavish dinner he hosted for the Prussian King\u00a0Wilhelm I<\/a>\u00a0and Chancellor\u00a0Otto von Bismarck<\/a>\u00a0(later termed the\u00a0Three Emperors Dinner<\/a>) be made clear, so that he could see the bubbles and also to prevent an explosive being hidden beneath them, as could happen with a typical dark green indented bottle.<\/p>\n

<\/sup>Louis Roederer commissioned a Flemish glassmaker to create a clear\u00a0lead glass<\/a>\u00a0Champagne bottle with a flat bottom. The Champagne has since become known as \u00ab\u00a0Cristal\u00a0\u00bb.<\/sup><\/p>\n

The wine was not commercially available until 1945.<\/sup><\/p>\n

In the mid 1990s to early 2000s,\u00a0hip hop music<\/a>\u00a0discovered the brand, with several artists referencing the drink in song lyrics and as part of their public image, including\u00a0Raekwon<\/a>,\u00a050 Cent<\/a>,\u00a0The Notorious B.I.G.<\/a>,\u00a0R. Kelly<\/a>,\u00a0Diddy<\/a>,\u00a0Big L<\/a>,\u00a0Jeru the Damaja<\/a>,\u00a0Trina<\/a>, and\u00a0Jay-Z<\/a>. Those in hip hop sometimes used the nickname \u00ab\u00a0Crissy\u00a0\u00bb for the drink.<\/p>\n

<\/sup><\/sup>Tupac Shakur<\/a>\u00a0created a cocktail called \u00ab\u00a0Thug Passion\u00a0\u00bb, which is a blend of\u00a0Aliz\u00e9 Gold Passion<\/a>\u00a0and Cristal.<\/p>\n

In an interview with\u00a0The Economist<\/a><\/i> in 2006, Louis Roederer managing director Frederic Rouzaud said he viewed the attention from rappers with \u00ab\u00a0curiosity and serenity.\u00a0\u00bb Asked if he thought the association would harm the brand, he replied, \u00ab\u00a0that’s a good question, but what can we do<\/p>\n

We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom P\u00e9rignon<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Krug<\/a>\u00a0would be delighted to have their business.\u00a0\u00bb<\/sup><\/p>\n

Subsequent interpretations and reactions to these statements resulted in those associated with\u00a0hip-hop culture<\/a>\u00a0disengaging from the brand.\u00a0Jay-Z<\/a>, for example, released a statement saying he would never \u00ab\u00a0drink Cristal or promote it in any way or serve it at any of [his] clubs\u00a0\u00bb.[<\/span>8]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>9]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>[<\/span>10]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The loss of position in hip hop and Jay Z’s statement had no effect on sales of Cristal; output doubled from 400,000 bottles in 2004 to over 800,000 bottles in 2010.<\/sup><\/p>\n

\n

Production<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

The 1974 vintage was the first release of a\u00a0ros\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0Cristal.<\/sup><\/p>\n

The\u00a0grape<\/a>\u00a0composition is an approximately equal blend of\u00a0Chardonnay<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Pinot noir<\/a>, while the ros\u00e9 contains more Pinot noir, and is coloured with red wine via the\u00a0saign\u00e9e<\/a><\/i>\u00a0method rather than by the Pinot noir grape skins.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The 2000 vintage was 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, with a\u00a0dosage<\/a>\u00a0of 10 g\/L.[<\/span>4]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Cristal had an annual production run of 300,000 to 400,000 bottles in the early to mid 2000s<\/sup>\u00a0but that had doubled to 800,000 bottles by 2010.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Since 2012, all vintages of Cristal champagne are produced entirely from\u00a0Demeter<\/a>-certified, biodynamically-farmed fruit, which is a landmark for Maison Roederer.<\/sup><\/p>\n

\n

Collaboration<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

In November 2024, it was reported that\u00a0Singapore Airlines<\/a>\u00a0will be the sole airline serving Cristal 2015\u00a0champagne<\/a>\u00a0beginning 1 December 2024, through an exclusive agreement with\u00a0Louis Roederer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The wine, blending 40%\u00a0Chardonnay<\/a>\u00a0and 60%\u00a0Pinot Noir<\/a>, is crafted by Jean-Baptiste L\u00e9caillon.<\/p>\n

The ingredients are sourced from 45 vineyard plots across Louis Roederer’s seven Grands Crus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[19],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-3643","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-non-classe","first","instock","sale","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/3643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=3643"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=3643"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=3643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}