Roederer Estate L’Ermitage: A Complete Retrospective

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JUNE 6, 2025

This complete retrospective of Roederer Estate’s L’Ermitage, the first of its kind, was illuminating on so many fronts. Most importantly, it proved that Anderson Valley is exceptionally well suited to the production of fine, world-class sparkling wine. I was also deeply impressed with how well the wines age. I had tasted L’Ermitage from time to time but not on a consistent basis; many of these vintages were new to me. I tasted this vertical with longtime Winemaker Arnaud Weyrich and President Nicole Carter during a visit to the property in January 2025.

The first complete retrospective of L’Ermitage.

Giant Steps

The Rouzaud family built their early reputation with Champagne Louis Roederer, the estate that is now operated by the seventh generation of the Rouzaud family. In the early 1980s, Jean-Claude Rouzaud, then at the helm representing the sixth generation, decided to make the family’s first investments outside Champagne, as the cost of land at home was becoming prohibitive. His first venture was in Tasmania, where he sent a very young Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, now the Chef de Cave at Champagne Louis Roederer. Ultimately, physical and time zone differences proved too much to overcome, and Rouzaud exited his investment.

California was the next destination. Moët & Chandon had founded Domaine Chandon in 1973, but Rouzaud believed land in Carneros was too expensive. After some exploration, Rouzaud settled on Anderson Valley. Here, he found a region defined by its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, with a cool microclimate and rolling fog that resulted in cycles of warming and cooling ideal for ripening fruit while maintaining vibrant acidity. Land was readily available, inexpensive and largely unplanted, which allowed for full control over selection of plant density, clones, rootstocks and other variables.

Jean-Claude Rouzaud was a pioneer. These were very early days for Anderson Valley. Commercial winemaking began here in the early 1900s. By the 1960s, there were a few wineries in the region. Anderson Valley, which now spans 2,500 hectares, was recognized as an AVA (American Viticultural Area) in 1983. Even today, Anderson Valley feels quite remote, especially compared to other regions in Northern California. There are only a few tasting rooms for the inquisitive oenophile to explore. Many of the best Anderson Valley wines, especially still Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, are made by producers based in nearby Sonoma County.

Rouzaud bought his first property, the Carney Vineyard, on the east side of the valley in 1982 and founded Roederer Estate. At the time, the site was planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Gewürztraminer. Rouzaud grafted the vines over with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. By 1989, Roederer Estate had grown their footprint to 340 acres of vineyards. Today, Roederer Estate owns and farms 620 acres divided into seven major ranches, equivalent to 25% of the Anderson Valley AVA. The Rouzaud family’s Roederer Collection now includes 12 wineries (five of them in California), including Pichon Comtesse, Domaines Ott, Ramos Pinto, Merry Edwards and Diamond Creek.

Longtime winemaker Arnaud Weyrich caught during a short break discussing Roederer Estate’s vineyard holdings. Harvest typically takes a month, starting with ranches on the eastern side of Anderson Valley, then moving west towards cooler sections.

A Rich Legacy of Farming and Winemaking

Arnaud Weyrich is only the second winemaker in Roederer Estate’s history. Weyrich also oversees winemaking and viticulture at Scharffenberger and Domaine Anderson at a senior level. Weyrich arrived as an intern in 1993, working alongside Jean-Claude Rouzaud, and ended up staying for two years in the midst of California’s bout with phylloxera, a crisis that required significant replanting. Interestingly, Rouzaud trained some of his most esteemed young professionals at Roederer Estate, another sign of how important this project was to his vision of the company’s future and how he thought about preserving and maintaining the family legacy of farming and winemaking at the highest level. Christophe Coppolani, vineyard manager at Champagne Louis Roederer for more than a dozen years, did his internship here in 1986. Lécaillon, who is also the most senior non-family member of the entire company, interned in 1989.

After his internship, Weyrich moved back to his native France and pursued a career in retail. He returned to Champagne Louis Roederer in 2000, working alongside Lécaillon and his predecessors, Michel Pansu and Jean-Louis Riou, before returning to Roederer Estate in 2001. Weyrich succeeded Founding Winemaker Michel Salgues, a native of Champagne, in 2002. The critical importance of transmitting institutional knowledge and experience across generations might seem obvious, but it is not. This is something I have seen only rarely and only in the very best-run organizations. With the Rouzaud family, that transmission also occurs across estates, as I have witnessed firsthand by observing the many properties in the family’s holdings that I have personally covered for many years.

L’Ermitage – A California Tête de Cuvée

From the beginning, Jean-Claude Rouzaud’s goal was to make méthode Champenoise wines in California. The early Roederer Estate wines were multi-vintage blends inspired by Roederer’s Brut Premier at the time, using 85% of a base vintage plus reserve wines. The flagship L’Ermitage was conceived in 1989 as a California tête de cuvée. In 1990, Roederer Estate introduced a Late-Disgorged version of L’Ermitage, an approach that works so well in tempering some of the brilliant acidity that is such an Anderson Valley signature.

L’Ermitage is a vintage wine finished with a touch of cask-aged reserves. Base wines are mostly fermented in stainless steel, although some lots are vinified in oak, with bâtonnage that lasts about eight weeks. Malolactic fermentation has traditionally been blocked, as has always been the case with Cristal and Cristal Rosé, although that has become more flexible in response to the unique characteristics of Anderson Valley. Even though the approach at Roederer Estate is derived from principles used in Champagne, there are some key differences between L’Ermitage and Cristal. L’Ermitage is a Chardonnay-driven wine, while Cristal is a Pinot-based Champagne. Acidity is also quite a bit higher in Anderson Valley than it is in Champagne.

Dosage in current vintages is in the range of 6-9 grams per liter. Roederer Estate uses liqueur aged in cask for dosage, the same approach taken with Cristal. In the past, dosage was on the higher side, an attempt to balance the natural acidity of Anderson Valley fruit. Recent vintages suggest that some vinification in wood and malolactic fermentation are effective tools in softening the impact of that acidity. Total production for L’Ermitage is around 3,000 cases per year. In some vintages, Roederer Estate also bottles about 100 cases of Late-Disgorged L’Ermitage. Pricing remains exceptionally fair relative to other top still and sparkling wines from regions around the world.

Roederer Estate’s key vineyard sites. Parcels in grey are used by sister estate Domaine Anderson.

L'Ermitage Rosé

In some years, those that are especially favorable, Roederer Estate makes the L'Ermitage Rosé, a smaller production of around 600 cases. It was first produced in 1999. “To do a Rosé L'Ermitage, you have to get the best of both worlds,” Weyrich explained. “The Blanc has to be outstanding, and then we also need the Pinot for the still red wine to be ripe.” The Rosé is essentially equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a touch of Chardonnay reserve wines and about 4% still red Pinot. Based on this tasting, the L'Ermitage Rosé strikes me as more variable, especially in its aging. Recent vintages are stronger than those from the early days, most likely a reflection of better facilities for the production of still red wine, which was not considered when the winery was built in 1986.

In Champagne parlance, the L’Ermitage Rosé is a Rosé d’Assemblage, a Rosé made by adding a small percentage of still red wine to a white base. That’s an approach that can work—indeed, it is quite successful in many non-vintage Rosés. That said, most, if not all, of the truly great Rosés in Champagne are conceived as completely unique blends from the ground up. That seems to me like the logical next step.

The most recent development at Roederer Estate is the introduction of single-vineyard wines. I have included notes on the first releases here for completeness. These wines represent an exciting new chapter for the estate that will be fascinating to follow.

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