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+.

The 2020 vintage marks the very first time Roederer Estate has ventured into producing single vineyard bottlings from its vineyard holdings in Anderson Valley. The Apple Alley Vineyard takes its name from it having been a former apple orchard, as Roederer Estate chose to keep all of the apple trees that line flank the road into the vineyard. The wine is crafted from a cépages of seventy-four percent chardonnay and twenty-six percent pinot noir, with eight percent of the vins clairs having been barrel-fermented. The wine was disgorged in February of 2024 and finished with a dosage of six grams per liter. The wine delivers a refined bouquet of apple, quince, a lovely base of soil tones, bread dough and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is crisp, focused and full-bodied, with a lovely core of fruit, excellent soil signature, frothy mousse, a firm spine of acidity and a very long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. To my palate this is still a young wine and truly deserves at least a few years in the cellar to properly blossom. It is an important new wine from Roederer Estate and certainly looks likely to soon be one of the benchmark sparkling wines produced in the US! 2027-2050+.

This 50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blend sourced from the estate’s vineyards in Mendocino’s Anderson Valley is light copper-salmon in color. It opens with delicate aromas of red berries and zest of blood orange. On the palate it reveals fine bubbles, a creamy mouthfeel, and notes of bread dough and minerals complementing the fruit. The perfect accompaniment for salmon. 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir with 3.9% reserve wines from 2010-14. Dosage 8 g/L.

Consistently on the top of its game, the L’Ermitage Brut reveals a mélange of brioche, toasted grain and walnuts with pear and berry notes. The palate is complex and mouthfilling with a rich, persistent finish. A blend of 52% Chardonnay, 46% Pinot Noir and 2% Pinot Meunier; 4.9% reserve wine from the 2012 vintage. Dosage 7.5 g/L.

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.