Roederer Estate 2012 Brut L'Ermitage Anderson Valley Sparkling Wine 750ml

Louis Roederer makes Cristal. It is the most famous prestige cuvée in Champagne — created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II, available only in exceptional years, produced from the finest parcels of the Roederer estate in Reims, and recognized across the world as one of the most age-worthy and most critically acclaimed sparkling wines produced anywhere. When Roederer established its California outpost in Anderson Valley in 1982, the founding ambition was to do the same thing in Mendocino County that the family had been doing in Champagne for more than two centuries: identify the finest possible terroir for sparkling wine, farm it with complete dedication, and produce a tête de cuvée — a prestige cuvée — that would stand alongside the world's finest.

L'Ermitage is California's answer to Cristal. Not a copy of it. Not an approximation. Its own wine, from its own terroir, expressing the specific combination of fog-shrouded Anderson Valley mornings, coastal Mendocino breezes, and the nearly 600 acres of estate-grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that winemaker Arnaud Weyrich selects from annually to produce only in exceptional vintages. The wine's name — L'Ermitage, French for "the hermitage" — honors the remote and contemplative quality of the Anderson Valley site, and the wine's character has reflected that specifically California version of French ambition since its debut with the 1989 vintage.

The 2012 vintage is, by every available critical measure, the finest L'Ermitage ever produced at the time of its release. Wine Enthusiast awarded 97 Points and Cellar Selection: "Luxurious and layered, this nicely mature wine has a broad range of complex aromas and flavors, from fig to mushroom to butter and baking spices that ride a supple texture and linger for a long finish. The very fine bead, plush texture and a creamy richness that verges on sweetness are practically irresistible." Wine Spectator placed it at #5 in the Top 100 Wines of 2019 — the most exciting wines of the entire year, across every wine in every category globally. Five years on the lees. 2007 reserve wines for additional complexity. Partial malolactic conversion and large French oak cask aging for texture and richness. Disgorged April 2018 and given five additional months of aging on cork before release. This is California sparkling wine made at the level that only one estate in Anderson Valley consistently achieves.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Champagne Louis Roederer was founded in Reims, France in 1776 — one of the oldest and most consistently celebrated Champagne houses in the entire appellation, whose portfolio includes Cristal, Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs, and the full range of prestige cuvées that have defined the house's international reputation across two and a half centuries. In 1982, the Roederer family identified Anderson Valley in Mendocino County as the single most promising location in California for producing méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine at the quality level they demanded — acquiring land, planting vineyards, and establishing Roederer Estate with the same long-term commitment to site and craft that had governed their Champagne production for generations.

The estate today covers nearly 600 acres of estate-owned vineyards in Anderson Valley — all production using exclusively estate-grown fruit, a self-sufficiency that distinguishes Roederer Estate from virtually every other California sparkling wine producer and mirrors the estate-grown philosophy that governs Cristal's production in Reims. Anderson Valley's combination of cool Pacific Ocean proximity, fog-drenched mornings, warm afternoons, and the specific combination of well-drained soils produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of the slow-ripening, high-natural-acidity character that méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine requires for age-worthiness.

Winemaker Arnaud Weyrich — who succeeded founding winemaker Michel Salgues in 2002 — assembled the 2012 L'Ermitage from the best lots of the estate's nearly 600 acres, in a roughly 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Portions of the blend underwent malolactic conversion — the secondary fermentation that converts malic acid to softer lactic acid, adding the creamy, buttery richness that distinguishes L'Ermitage's texture from purely non-malolactic sparkling wines — while the remainder preserved the natural bright acidity of the Anderson Valley fruit. Portions were aged in large French oak casks, adding the subtle texture and toasty richness that barrel contact contributes without imposing direct wood flavor.

For additional complexity, barrel-aged reserve wines from the 2007 vintage were added — comprising 4% of the final cuvée and contributing the developed, nutty, and autolytic complexity that mature reserve wines provide. The wine then spent five full years on the lees in the bottle — the extended contact with spent yeast cells that produces the brioche, toast, and creamy autolytic character that defines the finest prestige California sparkling wines. Disgorgement took place in April 2018, followed by five additional months of aging on the cork before release — a final development period that allows the dosage to integrate completely before the wine reaches the consumer. Wine Spectator specifically noted this was "the highest-scoring L'Ermitage to date" at the time of release.

Critics Reviews

Wine Enthusiast — 97 Points · Cellar Selection (Jim Gordon, 2012) "Luxurious and layered, this nicely mature wine has a broad range of complex aromas and flavors, from fig to mushroom to butter and baking spices that ride a supple texture and linger for a long finish. The very fine bead, plush texture and a creamy richness that verges on sweetness are practically irresistible. Best through 2025."

Wine Spectator — #5 Wine of the Year, Top 100 of 2019 (2012 vintage) "This prestige California sparkling wine is the best yet from a Mendocino winery backed by one of Champagne's leading names. Extravagant, yet balanced and refined, with lush, crisp brioche, fresh ginger and spice, roasted hazelnut and Asian pear flavors that fan out on the lengthy finish."

Roederer Estate official notes: "The wine for the reserve dosage added to the L'Ermitage 2012 was aged five years in a French oak cask. Following disgorgement, L'Ermitage 2012 was aged an additional five months on the cork prior to release. L'Ermitage debuted with the 1989 vintage. This is the highest-scoring L'Ermitage to date — Arnaud Weyrich used the best lots from the estate's nearly 600 acres of vines."

Tasting Profile

Nose Deep golden amber with warm highlights — the five years on the lees and the subsequent bottle development producing a color of extraordinary maturity and depth for a California sparkling wine. The nose opens with the luxurious, developed complexity that five years of autolytic development and seven-plus years of total bottle maturation produces: fig and dried fruit lead with a slightly exotic, warm richness that is entirely the wine's most immediately compelling and most specifically mature quality. Mushroom follows — the slightly earthy, slightly savory umami quality that extended lees aging produces in its most developed form, and that immediately signals a wine of serious autolytic depth. Butter and baking spices add the creamy, slightly spiced warmth of partial malolactic conversion alongside the oak cask's textural contribution. Brioche and toasty yeast add the autolytic development character that five years of lees contact develops most completely. Roasted hazelnut from the 2007 reserve wines' developed character adds nutty complexity. Asian pear and fresh ginger add fruit brightness and aromatic lift. The nose is genuinely luxurious — layered, developed, and deeply rewarding across every stage of air contact.

Palate Extravagant and refined simultaneously — Wine Spectator's characterization confirmed from the first sip as the most accurate single-sentence description of what the 2012 L'Ermitage delivers. The mousse is very fine — the five years of lees aging producing the smallest, most persistent, and most elegantly integrated bubbles of any California méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine at this maturity level. The entry is immediately plush: a supple, creamy texture that verges on sweetness — the creamy richness that Wine Enthusiast found practically irresistible — carrying fig, mushroom, butter, and baking spice in a layered progression of extraordinary complexity. Lush, crisp brioche arrives at the mid-palate alongside roasted hazelnut and the fresh ginger and spice that Wine Spectator identified as the 2012's most distinctive and most energetic quality. Asian pear adds fruit brightness. The balance between the partial malolactic's creaminess and the Anderson Valley's preserved natural acidity is the wine's most impressive structural achievement — the tension between richness and freshness sustaining the palate's energy across a very long development.

Finish Very long — fig, mushroom, butter, and baking spices lingering with the persistence that a 97-point Wine Enthusiast Cellar Selection demands. The fine bead contributes its own textural quality to the finish — the mousse's dissolution creating a slight effervescence that carries the flavors forward long past the initial wave. Hazelnut and ginger fade alongside the creamy richness before resolving into a final mineral note. The finish is the 2012's most impressive and most definitive quality statement — the Wine Enthusiast's "supple texture and a long finish" entirely confirmed and substantially understated.

Quick Overview

Serving & Occasion

Serve at 10–12°C — slightly warmer than standard Champagne serving temperature to allow the developed fig, mushroom, hazelnut, and baking spice complexity to fully open. A large white wine glass or generous Champagne tulip rather than a flute — the broad bowl allows the developed aromatic complexity to reveal itself fully rather than being channeled into the narrow expression of a standard flute. Allow 10 minutes of air after pouring — this wine has been developing in the bottle since 2012 and rewards patience. Drinking beautifully now with its full complement of developed autolytic complexity; the Wine Enthusiast's "best through 2025" window suggests drinking without further delay. Outstanding alongside lobster, oysters, sea scallops, black truffle preparations, aged Gruyère, seared foie gras, and any preparation where the wine's luxurious, creamy, and developed character finds food of comparable sophistication.