Roederer Estate, NV Brut, Anderson Valley

From the website: "Roederer Estate Brut, the first California sparkling wine produced by Champagne Louis Roederer, builds upon a 200-year tradition of fine winemaking that has made Roederer Champagne among the most sought-after in the world. Roederer's winemaking style is based on two elements: complete ownership of its vineyards and the addition of oak-aged reserve wines to each year's blend or cuvee. All the grapes for the wines are grown on the Estate. Oak-aged wines from the Estate's reserve cellars are added to the blend, creating a multi-vintage cuvee in the traditional Roederer style".

The Anderson Valley provides an ideal climate for the Roederer winemaking style. "This premium grape growing region's proximity to the ocean gives rise to a gentle cycle of warm days and cool nights, allowing grapes to mature slowly on the vine and develop full varietal character. To achieve optimum balance of acids and sugars in the estate's grapes, Jean Claude-Rouzaud, then president of Champagne Louis Roederer, introduced an 'open lyre' trellis system from training the vines on moveable wires, providing more exposure to sunlight than traditional trellis methods".

Appellation: Anderson Valley

Body: Medium

Aging: Aged a minimum of two years on the yeast

Alcohol: 12%

Cases: 80,000 cases annually

Tasting Notes:

The Brut NV is a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. The taste is crisp and elegant, and this medium bodied sparkling has aromas of pear, hazelnut, spice, and even features a slight yeast taste. It is fresh and lightly fruity with great depth.

 "The wine is crisp, clean, austere in a good way and delicate. Although it is not overly complicated, there is a lingering complexity that engages the drinker on both a sensual and cerebral level... Grapes are rarely offered up as one of the flavors in wine, but they are there in every sip, alongside a suggestion of green fruit -- Asian pear, green apple and not-quite-ripe cherimoya. In the background, standing solid like a bass player... is an appealing bedrock of toast, from which tiny bubbles meander toward the surface, where they burst like tiny sea stars." Michele Anna Jordan, The Press Democrat, December 2007.