REVIEW: Roederer Estate Brut

Christmas may be over for this year, but before 2013 is finished there are plenty more opportunities to celebrate, and nothing says party quite like a bottle of bubbly! Last week we reviewed Animal Espumante Chardonnay-Pinot Noir, a bottle of bubbly that is perfect for Christmas dinner and your New Years celebration. Today, we wanted to finish off 2013 right, with a review of a true bottle of champagne.

Historically, the province of Champagne has been seen as the go to destination for quality sparkling wine. Today the greatest bottles still come from these rolling chalk hills to the east of Paris, but, over the years producers around the world have perfected the technique of making top quality fizz. Besides France, Spain has given us Cava, Italy both Prosecco and Franciacorta and countries as diverse as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have all followed in the pursuit of fine bubbles. America is no exception.

Many things define a country. Italians and pasta, Brits and Bowler Hats… For me, one thing says more about America than anything else. That is her ability to adapt and develop, to embrace new ideas and take them forward. This is exactly what has happened with sparkling wine, the local wine making regions have embraced the knowledge and experience of the old world producers and then put their unique twist on it. In the last twenty five years a new wine industry has been developed.

One example of this process is the Roederer Estate in the Anderson Valley. Situated 125 miles north of San Francisco, near the Mendocino coast, the winery was developed in 1982 by Champagne Louis Roederer, one of the great French Champagne House’s. The Rouzard family have controlled the firm for six generations and they searched at length to find the perfect Californian site, in the end settling on the 58 acre farm at Philo. Champagne Louis Roederer brought two hundred years of wine making experience to the region and meticulously set about making hand crafted Californian Sparkling wine. The first vintage was released in 1988 and from that point on Roederer Estate has become a byword for excellence.

The Loius Roededer Multi Vintage Brut is produced from grapes grown solely on their estate in the Anderson Valley; this makes sure that the winemaker is in complete control of the quality of fruit in the vineyard. When the grapes are crushed only the first pressing is used in the blend, ensuring that only the best juice ends up in the bottle.

The wine is a blend of two classic Champagne grape varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – the elegant Chardonnay grape is just in the majority. The resulting wine is crisp and refined with complex white fruits, spice and nuttiness on the nose. Like all great sparkling wines it shows great finesse on the palate, no aggressive fizz here. It is lightly fruity with a developing richness in the glass.

Roederer Brut is a highly flexible wine. It can be drunk on its own, maybe for a toast at a celebration, but is also great with a variety of food at the table. One important thing to remember is to serve your sparkling wine at the right temperature, too cold and you will lose much of the subtle flavour in the bottle.

California should be rightly proud of its sparkling wine industry; few countries in the world would have embraced such a creation so warmly.