Here’s a style of wine you won’t find every day. In fact, it’s not even listed on the Roederer website; it was explained to me in March 2013 when we visited the winery that it was a bit of an experiment (https://winellama.com/2013/03/23/sonoma-and-napa-valley-california/).

The Roederer Estate is located 125 miles north of San Francisco near the Mendocino Coast. Roederer Estate was one of the very first French Champagne houses to establish a satellite winery in California and specifically chose the cooler Anderson Valley in 1988. Their first vintage cuvée (L’Ermitage) was released in 1993.

When we were at the winery we purchased a bottle of that L’Ermitage Brut 2003 (https://winellama.com/2013/04/14/lermitage-roederer-brut-2003-anderson-valley-sonoma-california-12-abv-us47-c17-tax-at-border/) as well as one of these – just because it was so unusual!

The Roederer Rosé of Pinot Noir is unfined and unfiltered yet of course, clear and bright until shaken (not stirred) and a lovely shade of onion skin with light legs. It was kept on the skins ever so briefly prior to fermentation accounting for its delicate shade.

Clean with light intensity, it’s youthful with the lightest scrape of tannins, medium minus alcohol and aromas of green grapes and pears. On the palate it’s dry with medium plus acidity and medium minus intense flavours of quince, Asian pear, grape skins and a lovely minerality. When it warmed in our glasses, we noted that good old ‘Pinot carpentry’ at work anchoring it down.

Refreshing, juicy and grippy, it’s WSET ‘Good’ and lots of fun on a warm afternoon.