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.

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.

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.

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.

The 2011 growing season was fairly cool all along with an early start of the fall rainy season. Fruit set is below average because of the cool and wet spring. Ripeness is happening slowly during harvest and early rain creates Botrytis pressure on the Chardonnay. The acid and ripeness balance of the wines is showing lots of similarities with a harvest from Northern France.