Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Roederer Estate/New Releases/SummerTime Sparkling Wines

I traveled into Anderson Valley a few months ago.I visited the amazing Roederer Estate,and we did features with all the wines.Here are notes from their website on the release of two great Sparkling Wines.I recently opened these wines and shared them with the chefs at Applewood Restaurant. L'Ermitage 2005 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 French methode 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 première or deuxième taille is used. 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" (special) blend that allows for longer aging, which produces a fine wine with elegance and finesse. Four members of the blending team include winemakers from Champagne Louis Roederer in France and Roederer Estate in California, together totaling over 130 years of experience. The wine for the reserve dosage added to the L'Ermitage 2005 was aged six years in a French oak cask. Following disgorgement, L'Ermitage 2005 was aged an additional five months (minimum) on the cork prior to release. Harvest The 2005 harvest began on August 18th, which is a fairly normal time for the Anderson Valley. From July 2004 to July 2005, the rainy season was plentiful with nearly 48 inches of rain. Although budbreak was early, the conjunction of a mild spring with wet events followed by a dry but not hot summer, lead to a later than initially anticipated harvest. Pinot Noir was affected by these spring rains as the vines were blooming. It resulted in a higher than usual rate of shatter and therefore a loss of crop. Chardonnay which blooms later was less affected by the May rainy events. The average hang time was affected by the loss of crop and showed particularly on the Pinot Noir with 84 to 91 days - the lighter the crop the faster the vines ripen the grapes with a healthy canopy! Chardonnay hang time was 94 to 113 days also showing some effect of shatter and lighter crop in some areas. Acidity on the 2005 wines was high but pH stayed within range allowing a ripe and crisp blend of L'Ermitage. L' L'Ermitage Rosé 2004 L'Ermitage Rosé is Roederer Estate's first-ever special Tête de Cuvée Rosé. As in Champagne, L'Ermitage is made only in an exceptional year of pre-selected grapes that come from the very best lots of Roederer Estate's own 580 acres of vineyards. Winemaking Roederer Estate wines are made with juice from just the cuvée, i.e. the first pressing of the grapes; no première or deuxième taille is used. 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 (special) blend, which allows for longer aging and produces a fine wine with elegance and finesse. Four members of the blending team include winemakers from Champagne Louis Roederer and Roederer Estate, together totaling over 130 years of experience with Roederer. 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. About 2.5 percent of red wine of pinot noir was used in the blend. The wine for the dosage used in the L'ERMITAGE ROSÉ was the 2004 wine liquor, aged for 6 years in a French oak cask. Following disgorgement, L'ERMITAGE was aged an additional eight months (minimum) on the cork prior to release. Tasting Notes L'Ermitage Rosé brings complexity and smoothness to a higher level. The delicate salmon colors enhance the tiny bubbles and creamy mouthfeel. Notes of bread crust, baked apples and caramelized hazelnut create an elegant and complex wine. The wine is crisp with great acid on notes of quince jelly and anise. Harvest The 2004 vintage was the earliest ever. This occurred because of a warm early spring and a relatively small fruit set that can be explained by the rainy spring of 2003, when the buds were forming. It was easy to get full ripening of the grapes, and the base wines for our sparkling wines had a very good acidity and a balanced pH. It was a great year for pinot noir red wines as we got full maturation of the skin and very good color intensity.Click here as we enjoy these great new releases. Click here and join us,we saved you a seat.

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