Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 40

YEAR'S BEST SUMMER SPARKLERS
Our blind panels tasted 569 sparkling wines, other than Champagne, over the past 12 months. Our critics rated 92 as exceptional (90+)
and 33 as Best Buys; their initials follow the ratings from Patrick J. Comiskey (P.J.C.), Joshua Greene (J.G.), Stephanie Johnson (S.J.)
and Tara Q. Thomas (T.Q.T.). Find a complete list of wines tasted and all reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com.

U N I T E D STA T E S
CALIFORNIA
516650

95 | Roederer Estate

$75

2011 Anderson Valley L'Ermitage Brut
Rosé ^ This is the fifth release of L'Ermitage
Rosé since its introduction with the 1999
vintage, and the cool 2011 season earned
the wine's third 95-point score. Arnaud
Weyrich selects the fruit for this top cuvée
from Roederer's 580-acre vineyard, planted
and farmed for sparkling wine. What sets
L'Ermitage apart is the purity of its fruit,
completely present and yet delicate, a
ghosting of raspberry and currant flavor.
Weyrich brings out that fruit essence and
achieves the color of the wine by blending in
a small portion of still wine from pinot noir,
taking those grapes through an extended
cold soak, then finishing their fermentation
off the skins to capture the fruit rather than
the tannins. Seven years on the lees has
taken that fruit in a savory direction, a gentle
evocation of the forest mists of Anderson
Valley with an undertow of ethereal raspberry
flavor. (480 cases) -J.G.
514767

95 | Roederer Estate

WINE & SPIRITS

93 | Iron Horse

513496
$45

2014 Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Wedding Cuvée (Best Buy) ^ This fresh vintage of Iron Horse's Wedding Cuvée is coral
pink, like an English garden rose, a pretty
wine with structure and depth to it. The
pink continues into strawberry flavors and
brisk pink-grapefruit acidity, all of it finely
integrated through its time on the lees. It's
clean and fragrant, a lovely pinot noir-based
sparkling wine ready for spring. (W&S 4/19;
4,500 cases) -J.G.

92 | Iron Horse

$52

2014 Green Valley of Russian River Valley Ocean Reserve Blanc de Blancs ^ Tight
and sparkling with freshness, this wine has a
touch of fruit sweetness, like an aerial spritz
of mandarin orange zest. Along with the
wine's bright apple flavor, the brisk citrus
rides over richer tones of hazelnut cream,
keeping that richness clean and refreshing.
A coastal sparkler to serve with pan-roasted
sand dabs or a seafood terrine. (W&S 10/18;
1,000 cases) -J.G.

$48

2011 Anderson Valley L'Ermitage Brut ^
When Jean-Claude Rouzaud searched out a
site for Roederer's California sparkling wine
estate, he settled on a cool spot for chardonnay and pinot noir-where vines could
deliver flavor depth in their grapes before
sugars rose to levels unsuited for sparkling
wine. This 2011 is a vindication of that decision, a fragrant, elegant sparkling wine from
a cool season, with flavor depth that sets it
apart. Notes of fresh apple, honeysuckle and
jasmine layer over an herbal austerity that
tightens up the wine's fruit, ending savory.
That length of flavor is amplified by a small
addition of reserve wines (four percent), aged
five years in oak. Arnaud Weyrich blended
it in a style formed and determined by its
site, resulting in an honest, clean sparkler
destined to become a classic. (W&S 12/18;
2,845 cases) -J.G.

515657

AUGUST 2019

516836

92 | Schramsberg

516691

92 | Cartograph

$68

2013 Russian River Valley Leonardo Julio
Vineyard Brut Rosé ^ Alan Baker and Serena
Lourie established Cartograph in 2009,
having met at Crushpad, where they were
both exploring winemaking as a new career.
They focus on pinot noir from the North
Coast, which they also use in this vinous
sparkler, a chardonnay-based wine to which
they add a little pinot noir to make it pink.
That chardonnay comes across in golden
fruit with notes of yarrow and chamomile,
but it's the red-apple-skin flavor of the pinot
that lasts. The texture has the creaminess of
long aging on the lees, while the structure
retains crisp freshness. (132 cases) -J.G.

$120

2010 North Coast J. Schram ^ Sean Thompson and Hugh Davies focus this wine on chardonnay (84 percent of the blend), selecting
the best lots of the vintage and aging it more
than seven years on the lees. This is principally Carneros fruit, from Schwarze, Hudson and Hyde, with a significant contribution from the Keefer Ranch in Russian River
Valley. Age brings richness to the wine, contrasting notes of fresh apple and white cranberry with hints of brioche and baked apple.
It offers depth and refreshment, as well as a
compelling lingering essence of fresh fruit.
(2,750 cases) -J.G.
514558

http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com http://www.ironhorsevineyards.com/product/2015-Ocean-Reserve?pageID=709AE74B-BA4F-D99C-A5E2-1F62C09E374F&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=20& http://www.ironhorsevineyards.com/product/2014-Wedding-Cuvee?pageID=709AE74B-BA4F-D99C-A5E2-1F62C09E374F&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=20& https://www.cartographwines.com/product/2013-Brut-Ros- https://shop.schramsberg.com/SHOP.AMS?LEVEL=MID&CAT=CR

Wine & Spirits - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - August 2019