(TDB) - “This year will be my 30th harvest at Roederer and the 2008 is my best Cristal ever on the market,” said Roederer cellar master Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon about the latest release of Cristal, which was launched in London last night.

Lecaillon made the comment during an exclusive interview with the drinks business at Claridge’s hotel yesterday, a few hours before the official launch of the 2008 vintage of Roederer’s famous prestige cuvée.

Continuing, he told db that is “the most Cristal of Cristals; it represents exactly the vision we have of Cristal,” having previously said that the cuvée was aiming for elegance, not power.

“The vision of Cristal is to capture a sense of place of the chalkiest terroir in Champagne, Cristal is elegance, elegance, elegance, it is not about power, it is more mineral than fruity,” he said.

Cristal 2008 follows the launch of the younger 2009 vintage last year – which was a riper, richer expression, and hence released earlier – and that followed other releases from this century, which included 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.