We were still tasting French Champagne at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  All the wines were from the House of Louis Roederer of Reims in 1776, and then later a nephew Louis Roederer took over and renamed the house after himself; and still family owned.  In 1845, they were far-sighted enough to purchase several grand cru vineyards to add to the estate, instead of solely relying on the local growers for grapes.  Today they own six-hundred acres of land in the Montagne de Reims, Vallee de la Marne and the Cotes de Blancs.  By 2012, they had achieved a twenty-five percent managed biodynamically estate, and Cristal is made from biodynamically farmed grapes.

What better way to bring in the New Year than by tasting Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Millesime 2015.  Louis Roederer attempted to capture foreign markets and was a favorite of the Russian royal family.  They went so far, as to create a special bottle that was clear and had a flat bottom (no punt), because Tsar Alexander II was paranoid and thought that the traditional style bottle could be used to hide explosives.  The wine is produced using about sixty percent Pinot Noir and forty percent Chardonnay, and portions of the blend are aged in oak barrels for a time.  This vintage also saw fruit harvested from all forty-five estate plots where the vines are at least twenty years of age.  Cristal wines are released under the Vinotheque label, which is a combination of late disgorging and extended lees aging, as well as further time cellared in the bottle.  It is aged for six years on yeast and a further eight months in the bottle.  A beautiful golden-yellow wine with very energetic tiny bubbles and it offered notes of red fruit and yellow fruit, wheat, yeast, and almonds.  On the palate the tones of lemon and mandarin are immediate, blended with nuts and spices, bracing and refreshing, silky brioche, great salinity, some oak, perfectly balanced and all leading to a great long finish of fruit and chalky terroir.  I don’t drink Champagne that often, so I had to write my notes quite quickly and I also listen to the professionals when they discuss the wines as well.

The last tasting was Roederer Estate L’Ermitage Brut Anderson Valley 2017.  Roederer Estate was created by Louis Roederer Champagne in Anderson Valley in 1982 and their first release was in 1988.  The sparkling wines are made using Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with the Methode Traditionnelle.  The estate is six-hundred-twenty-acres of vineyards farmed with organic and biodynamic methods; the estate grown fruit is able to ripen slowly and retain acidity, which is key to the production of sparkling wine.  Only the first pressing of fruit (roughly seventy percent) is used.  Fermentation is done in Stainless Steel tanks, and the wines are blended with oak-aged reserve wines and spend a minimum of two years on the lees, prior to disgorgement.  L’Ermitage is Roederer’s prestige cuvée and only made in exceptional years from the estate’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and the first vintage was 1989.  The wine is a golden-yellow with fine tiny bubbles and offers notes of yellow apple, pear, white flowers, brioche, and hazelnuts.  On the palate a crisp wine with tones of pears, brioche, acidity, and a soft finish of fruit.