Champagne Louis Roederer enjoyed a highly prosperous 2011 thanks to it market positioning.

Overall sales for the Champagne house hit 3.7 million bottles last year - a new annual record.

Speaking to the Drinks business, the group's export manager, Charles Fournier, explained that this success is especially pleasing as it was born out of the 2008 recession.

When the economic crisis hit, Mr Fournier explained, instead of seeking to consolidate the group took the opportunity to expand, stretching its distribution network to nearly 30 new markets.

As economies around the world recovered, Champagne Louis Roederer was then in prime position to take advantage of growth opportunities.

"As we can see it has paid off, we have seen a real boom. China and Dubai are moving quite fast, we can definitely say that the US is recovering and Russia has big potential," he told the publication.

"Thanks to the story of the Russian court and Louis Roederer, we want to come back strongly into this market."

Despite the record-breaking year, Roederer has no plans to ease off. The firm believes in the strength of its distribution network and, most importantly, the quality of its wines.

"Also the new markets are not at full capacity yet, they're still taking off. They're motivated, dynamic markets and they want to show us that they can work and be successful," Mr Fournier added.

Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, chief winemaker at the Champagne Louis Roederer, recently revealed a land deal has brought the company's total space available for organic and biodynamic viticulture to 40 hectares.

He stressed, however, that the group has no plans to reduce its own biodynamic wines for sale, instead using the project as a way to explore winemaking techniques and improve the overall quality across the company.