Roederer Estate L’Ermitage 2011 (Archive)
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Reviews
95 Points, Top 100 Best Wines of The Year
Wine & Spirits December 2018
“When Jean-Claude Rouzaud searched out a site for Roederer’s California sparkling wine estate, he settled on a cool spot for chardonnay and pinot noir — where vines could deliver flavor depth in their grapes before sugars rose to levels unsuited for sparkling wine. This 2011 is a vindication of that decision, a fragrant, elegant sparkling wine from a cool season, with flavor depth that sets it apart. Notes of fresh apple, honeysuckle and jasmine layer over an herbal austerity that tightens up the wine’s fruit, ending savory. That length of flavor is amplified by a small addition of reserve wines (four percent), aged five years in oak. Arnaud Weyrich blended it in a style formed and determined by its site, resulting in an honest, clean sparkler destined to become a classic.”
Overview
Among the very few California sparkling wine houses that only sources estate-grown fruit, Roederer Estate is also meticulous about all its farming decisions. The winemaking process begins with in-depth knowledge of the Estate soils to introduce open lyre trellis system or high density plantation, extends to the decision to farm vineyards organically and biodynamically, and finishes by painstakingly tracking grape maturity to achieve perfect balance at harvest.
L’Ermitage, Roederer Estate’s special tête de cuvée, is a sparkling wine made only in exceptional years from pre-selected, estate-grown grapes. Carrying on the tradition of Champagne Louis Roederer in France, Roederer Estate produces its sparkling wines in the traditional méthode traditionelle and adds special oak-aged reserve wines to each blend. L’Ermitage debuted with the 1989 vintage.
Winemaking
Roederer Estate wines are made with juice from just the cuvée pressing; no first or second “taille” is used. The concept of L’Ermitage is the same one that is used in Champagne: only the best of the vintage is selected. These are exceptional wines that create a noble blend that allows for longer aging, which produces a fine wine with elegance and finesse.
The wine for the reserve dosage added to L’Ermitage 2011 was aged five years in a French oak cask. Following disgorgement, L’Ermitage 2011 was aged an additional five months on the cork prior to release.
Tech
Appellation: Anderson Valley, California, United States
Varietals: 52% Chardonnay, 48% Pinot Noir – 4% aged reserve wine, vintage 2006 and 2007
Wine Alcohol: 13%
Titratable Acidity: 0.89
pH: 3.09
Residual Sugar: 11 g/L
Dosage: 11 g/L
Cases Produced: 2,845 750ml cases, and 110 magnum cases
Tasting Notes
Fine tiny bubbles and a long lasting mousse are the usual footprints of the L’Ermitage cuvée. Delicate aromas boast hazelnut, pastry and pear. Mouthfeel is very pure, focused freshness wrapped in yeast creaminess. Lemon curd and nutty characters play together to give a very European tasting experience.
Latest tasting done on April 2018.
