Roederer Estate Clark Road Vineyard
Anderson Valley, California, United States
Vintage:2020 (Current)
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Reviews
Wine Enthusiast 94 Points
It shows fresh, laser intensity, with aromas of peach, red candy apple and baker’s yeast on the nose. The midpalate offers concentrated mandarin orange, cotton candy, raspberry-rhubarb, racy acidity and a dry supple finish. Decant these bubbles for aeration. Yes, bubbles can be decanted—especially those with complexity.
View From the Cellar 94 Points
The 2020 Clark Road Vineyard bottling is the second new single site cuvée from Roederer Estate. It is effectively the mirror image of the Apple Alley bottling, as the cépages here is pinot noir dominant, with seventy-seven percent of this varietal augmented by twenty-three percent chardonnay in this vintage. The wine includes ten percent vins clairs that were barrel-fermented. The wine was disgorged in February of 2024 and finished with a dosage of five grams per liter. The wine’s aromatic constellation is refined and complex, wafting from the glass in a mix of apple, tart white peach, pâtissière, a fine base of soil, incipient smokiness and a nice touch of white flowers in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, young and full-bodied, with a fine core of fruit, excellent mineral undertow and grip, elegant mousse and a long, complex and very well balanced finish. This is excellent wine in the making, but give it a bit of cellaring to allow its secondary layers of complexity to emerge. 2027-2050+.
Wine Spectator 92 Points
Refined and handsomely structured, with elegantly layered strawberry and apple flavors that are laced with notes of spiced nuts and brioche, finishing with lift. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Drink now.
Decanter 93 Points
A dry year that was warmer than typical, this wine shows so much depth with a pastry crust and wonderfully ripe fruit marked by bruised apples. Pinot is what makes the vintages here, according to winemaker Arnaud Weyrich. The Clark Road wine was kept on lees for 32 months; it was the first single vineyard wine from the Roederer Estate. This site was selected given its proximity to the ‘Deep End’, which provides more proximity to the Pacific Ocean, which cools faster and warms up more slowly. There is an austerity to this wine.
Wine Review Online 95 Points
The premier sparkling wine producer in California has just recently released this, their very first vineyard designated offering. As you might expect, it is a winner on all fronts, and it is a slight departure from the usual house style that has brought the label to such prominence. The hallmarks are here of course – a fine, creamy mousse, with beautiful perlage in the glass, bold aromas and flavors – but the stylistic difference comes from the dosage level. This is noticeably drier than the regular non-vintage or vintage L’Ermitage offerings, and it is a welcome addition to the portfolio. It renders the regional apple character found in the other wines in a more austere fashion, allowing more palate real estate to subtle cherry fruit, stony mineral and toasted croissant notes. I suspect that winemaker Arnaud Weyrich, the driver behind the estate’s success, has wanted to offer a “grower” sort of wine for a while, but also wanted to wait for the perfect opportunity.
Overview
Founded in 1982, Roederer Estate is nestled in Mendocino County’s fog-shrouded, Anderson Valley. As the California property of Champagne Louis Roederer, Roederer Estate builds upon a centuries-old tradition of fine winemaking. The 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.
Clark Road is the first single-vineyard release from Roederer Estate and is at the core of Roederer Estate philosophy: deep knowledge of its family-owned vineyards and careful craftmanship of site-selected wines. Clark Road is the access road to our vineyards and also the name of the family that farmed and owned an apple orchard on the site. The single-vineyard wines that we release, including Clark Road, will showcase the sense of place and the expression of the fruit in its terroir.
Winemaking
2020 Clark Road Vineyard is a hand-made bottling. This vineyard is on the cool west side of Anderson Valley, where Pinot Noir thrives. We are intimately familiar with this site, which we have been farming since 1999. During those years, we have learned that we can leave the fruit on the vine longer than other sites, and as we allow it to ripen, it develops the juicy acidity so essential to top-quality sparkling wine. Clark Road was partially fermented in casks (10%) and with a small amount of reserve wine aged in casks (1.3%) to give the Roederer Estate family touch.
It was disgorged in November 2023 After 32 months on the yeast.
Tasting Notes
Flint and pastry crust aromatics that showcase long aging on the yeast give way to delicate ripe cherry flavors. The bubbles are soft on entry and respect the character and structure of this 76.8% Pinot Noir, 23.2% Chardonnay blend. It is bolder than usual Roederer Estate blends, yet delicate and long. It is a food wine champion due to its Pinot structure and low dosage at 5 g/L.
Technical Information
Varietals: 76.8% Pinot Noir, 23.2% Chardonnay (1.3% reserve vintage 2018 and 2017)
Wine Alcohol: 12.9%
pH: 3.16
Dosage: 5 g/L