Great New Releases From Roederer Estate/Anderson Valley

Spring is slowly turning into summer and Roederer Estate will release the 2009 vintage of their L'Ermitage sparkling wine. Before we enjoy our feature let me check out the tasting notes and some background on their incredible wine maker. Arnaud Weyrich is no stranger to the House of Louis Roederer. In fact, he began his career at Roederer Estate as an intern after he graduated in 1993 from the prestigious Montpellier school, “Ecole Supérieure d’Oenologie - ENSA-M” with a Master of Science in Viticulture and Enology. With a strong background in both viticulture and enology, Arnaud put his education to work during his internship. This experience was the start of a great relationship with the House of Roederer as Arnaud Weyrich later returned to the company and today holds the title of Winemaker and V.P. Production. After completing his internship, Arnaud moved back to France to be with his fiancée. This move also included a position with the large multinational retail company “Groupe Promodes” where he managed all quality control issues for the beverages under the company’s private label mainly focusing on fruit juices, Champagnes, Port wines and spirits. With his passion for the wine industry and an interest in moving back to a smaller company, Arnaud happily returned to Roederer Estate in the millennium year with his wife and two children. As Assistant Winemaker, he supervised all winemaking operations while respecting the 200-year old traditional winemaking techniques so important to the house style of Champagne Louis Roederer. With a strong and diverse background in all winemaking techniques from the traditional to the more technical methods, Arnaud then moved to Reims where he was the Chief Technical Officer in charge of Development for Champagne Louis Roederer for over a year. When the opportunity arose, Arnaud moved his family back to Roederer Estate and today manages the growing winery in all aspects from the vineyard to the day-to-day business. When he’s not busy in the lab or working the vineyards, one can find him on the tennis courts or with his two young sons on the ski slopes. Arnaud and his family reside in a house on the Roederer Estate property where he can keep a close eye on the vineyards. We will open a bottle of this great sparkling wine as we check out the tasting notes. 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 2007 was aged five years in a French oak cask. Following disgorgement, L'Ermitage 2007 was aged an additional five months (minimum) on the cork prior to release. TASTING NOTES Fine tiny bubbles and a long lasting mousse are the usual footprints of the L'Ermitage cuvée. This cuvée is showing great notes of apricot tart and hazelnut. The mouthfeel is smooth, velvety, creamy with a well enveloped citrus acidity and long finish. We poured you a glass, please join us! Cheers! Click here as we have saved you a seat.