Ratings and Reviews

This wine combines remarkable freshness with elegant richness, so that even after it’s been open for several days, the flavors are still evolving, the fruit still brisk as an autumn breeze. It needs that time for the blunt chalkiness of the structure to mellow, for the cool apple and pear flavors to develop and lengthen. Built to age, this is an exceptional vintage of L’Ermitage.

Always one of the top sparklers in California, L’Ermitage defines the rigorous selection that marks the best vintage-dated, ageworthy wines. The 2000 is about 50 – 50 Chardonnay and Pinot, and is very rich and flavorful in yeast, smoke, strawberry, citrus and vanilla flavors, but it’s also a very young wine, tight and minerally. It wants bottle age. Should begin to fantail out by the end of 2007 and continue to develop for 4 to 6 years, if not longer.

Extraordinarily fine for its smoothness and finesse, and the way the wine glides over the palate with a yeasty creaminess that turns smoky and spicy on the finish. The dosage stands out, yet this bubbly is also very acidic now. It should age well for at least 10 years.

Much more robust and full-bodied than the L’Ermitage brut, but still elegant and fine. Offers yeast, smoke and vanilla-tinged strawberry flavors, in a slightly rugged texture. Age through the end of the decade.

Among the top sparklers in California, the wine this year is even more smooth and polished. It’s positively French in its classic structure and elegance. Feels ultra-refined in the mouth, with subtle flavors of dough, smoke and fruit.

This half-and-half blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is often referred to as California’s best. This year, it’s very dry, with nuanced flavors of citrus, peach and yeast. But it feels a little rough on the palate. This youthful scour should soften in a few years.

A great sparkling wine, one of the best from California, it has the classic structure, harmony and finesse of all but the best Champagnes. Light as a feather, this brut has delicate flavors and is very dry. Its youthful vigor suggests aging until 2003.

What is California’s best sparkling winery and wine? I vote for Roederer Estate and its prestige cuvée, L’Ermitage. When all of the Champagne houses were buying land in Napa to establish California outposts, Champagne Louis Roederer settled in cool Mendocino County. With its toasty, hazelnut flavors, L’Ermitage is closest of all the American sparklers to Champagne.

Creamy and complex, with rose petal notes, it sits delicately on the palate, with toasty, hazelnut flavors and a fresh citrus-and-herb finish.