2006 Roederer Estate l'Ermitage Brut

A beautifully considered blend of 52% Chardonnay and 48% Pinot Noir, made with 4% reserve wine from the 2003 vintage, the 2006 Brut L'Ermitage Late Disgorged shows creamy layers of baked red apple skin, apricot, and Brie rind and is full-bodied in style, with complex, aged oak undertones. A thread of citrus-tinged acidity threads throughout a heady mid-palate of intense body weight and tension. Aged already 15 years on the yeasts, it's a lovely, aged wine that has more time to go, another 10 years at least. Dosage is 10.7 grams per liter from vintage 2006. Champagne Louis Roederer started planting grapes in the Anderson Valley in 1982, when California sparkling wine wasn’t yet a thing. Over time, this Philo-based outpost and production facility known as Roederer Estate has become entirely estate-grown, now farming 600 acres of organically and biodynamically farmed vines in the area, which estate winemaker Arnaud Weyrich says has higher acidity on average than Champagne. The winery’s signature style is to add oak-aged reserve wines to each year’s cuvée.