#20 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2024
Roederer Estate Brut, the first California sparkling wine produced by Champagne Louis Roederer, builds upon a 200-year tradition of fine winemaking that has made Roederer champagne among the most sought-after in the world.
Roederer's winemaking style is based on two elements: ownership of its own vineyards and the addition of oak-aged reserve wines to each year's blend or cuvee. All the grapes for the Anderson Valley wines are grown on the Estate.
Each year, the winemaker selects a portion of the best wines for aging in Center of France oak casks. Aged from one to three years, wines from this reserve cellar are added to the blend, creating a multi-vintage cuvee in the traditional Roederer style, known for its body, finesse and depth of flavor.
The Roederer Estate Brut debuted in October 1988, and has since established its reputation as one of California's premier sparklers, remaining true to the heritage of excellence and style of its French forebears.
Blend: 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir
94 Decanter Always a solid wine from Anderson Valley, this NV is built of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir and offers pretty lemony and lemon oil notes atop a bed of fragrant white flowers. Very round and complete with an assertive mousse, just-baked bread, and bruised yellow apple fruit. This bubbly has excellent depth and a terrific mineral finish. Aged a minimum of two years on the yeast, clocking in at 10 g/L. 85,000 9-litre cases produced.
94 Jeb Dunnuck Impressive from first sip, the MV Brut, made from 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, with 10 to 15% reserve wine, opens in a world of buttered toasty notes, spicy pear, and hazelnut. The oak and fruit shine amidst a backdrop of refreshing acidity speckled in green apple and Meyer lemon. Elegant in style, this medium-bodied Brut has an underlying thread of razor-edged acidity and great length that should keep it fresh
93 Wine Spectator Dynamic yet sleekly elegant, with rich strawberry and apple flavors that are accented by spiced cinnamon and yeast roll as this dances toward the vibrant finish.
93 Wine Enthusiast An enticing, toasty, nutty aroma leads to crisp and complex flavors in this medium-bodied wine that is braced by good acidity and a fine bead of bubbles. Subtle, mature notes complement the elegant texture.
93 James Suckling Aromas of pie crust with hints of nuts and cooked apple. Some butter cookie. Medium to full body with notes of seashell, cooked apple and lemon rind. Chunky at the end. A base of 2019. A blend of 60% chardonnay and 40% pinot noir. Two years on the lees.
93 Tasting Panel Finely wrought and sure-footed, this estate-grown blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir (with 10%-15% oak-aged reserve wine) proffers scents of baguette, citrus and citrus blossom, vanilla-poached pear, and hazelnut that harmonize with notes of green and golden apple, lemon balm, and subtle tarragon on the palate itself gloriously silky, with round acidity and a scintillating finish.
92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate The NV Estate Brut is scented of sour lemon, almonds and biscuits with flinty touches. The medium-bodied palate is rounded and creamy with bright, lemony character and a long, mineral-driven finish.
91 Wine & Spirits A purely California sparkler with rich flavors of Rainier cherries, ripe apricots and peaches, all held in a savory structure. It’s markedly clean, with clarity to the cherry-skin flavor that lasts.
