Roederer Estate L’Ermitage Rosé
Anderson Valley, California, United States
Vintage:2012 (Past)
2006 (Past) | 2009 (Past) | 2011 (Past) | 2013 (Past) | 2015 (Current)
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Reviews
Wine Enthusiast 95 Points, Cellar Selection
“This wonderfully elegant and subtle wine is well-suited for a special occasion now through at least 2025. It offers complex and intriguing aromas of toast, ginger and raspberry followed by a light but creamy mouthfeel buoyed by minute, persistent bubbles.”
Wine Spectator 95 Points
“This has a great nose, bursting with blood orange, candied ginger and lemon peel aromas, with hints of marzipan, leading to steely and mature flavors that linger delicately on the spicy finish. Nicely combines freshness and maturity. Drink now.”
Wine & Spirits 94 Points
“It's rare to find a sparkling wine outside of Champagne with this rosé's finesse. The Roederer Estate team, led by Arnaud Weyrich and under the guidance of Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon in Reims, are rosé specialists. They produce this wine by first selecting the top fruit from Roederer's 580 acres of estate-owned vineyards, blending virtually equal amounts of chardonnay and pinot noir as the base wine, and including a small amount of delicately macerated pinot noir for color and fragrance. That points up the pale-pink raspberry freshness of this eight-year-old youth. Like the best release of L'Ermitage, those flavors have precision, a concentrated presence and ethereal finesse.”
The Wine Advocate 94 Points
“Pale salmon-pink, the 2012 L'Ermitage Brut Rosé offers up fresh aromas of red berries, melon and peaches with nuances of mushroom, hay, toast, citrus peel and floral perfume coming through with time in the glass. The medium-bodied palate offers concentrated, pure, fresh fruits with lightly toasty accents, energetic mousse and addicting freshness on the long finish. Lovely! This was disgorged in June of 2019 and made with about eight grams per liter dosage.”
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.
L’Ermitage, Roederer Estate’s special tête de cuvée since 1989, is a sparkling wine made only in exceptional years from pre-selected, estate-grown grapes. Roederer Estate produces its sparkling wines in the French méthode traditionelle and adds special oak-aged reserve wines to each blend.
Winemaking
The concept of the vintage 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 rosé blend is crafted using a small fraction of red wine, from pinot noir grown on the estate, especially made for this purpose using Burgundian maceration technique that allows skin contact to extract color and aromas. This red wine brings delicate berry flavors and a nice color to further extend the L’Ermitage smoothness and subtleties, allowing for a unique tasting experience.
The wine for the reserve dosage added to L’Ermitage Rosé 2012 was aged 5 years in a French oak cask. Following disgorgement, L’Ermitage Rosé 2012 was aged another 5 months on the cork prior to release.
Tasting Notes
Fine bubbles and creamy finish are the usual footprints of the L’Ermitage wine. Wild strawberries, roasted nuts and pie crust invite themselves in the glass. Pale salmon color is distinctive and appealing. Acidity is mouthwatering with cranberry and crushed red berry accents. Dosage is balanced and supports and extends the finish.
Harvest Notes
After the cool years of 2010 and 2011, vintage 2012 felt more like a normal growing season for the Anderson Valley: mild temperatures and no frost events or heat spikes. The usual fog came and went often and it pushed the start of harvest to September 4th with the last grapes for sparkling coming off the vines October 1st. The disease pressure from powdery mildew and Botrytis was high and the crews had to stay very vigilant in the vineyard to keep the fruit pristine. Ultimately the Estate yielded a high-quality and good size crop.
Technical Information
Varietals: 49.7% Pinot Noir, 50.3% Chardonnay – 3.9% reserve wine from vintage 2007
Wine Alcohol: 12.9%
Residual Sugar: 8.1 g/L
Cases Produced: 518