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Wines without Equal
Founded in 1982, Roederer Estate winery is nestled in Mendocino County’s cool, fog-shrouded Anderson Valley. As the Californian outpost of Champagne Louis Roederer, Quartet builds upon a centuries-old tradition of fine winemaking and has established a reputation as one of California’s premier sparklers.
The estate was established in 1982 by Jean-Claude Rouzaud, who recognised the Anderson Valley as ideal for the production of top quality sparkling wine. The first wines were released in 1988.
Cellars
Roederer’s winemaking style adopted here is based on ownership of its own vineyards and the addition of oak aged reserve wines, which have been selected from the best wines of each harvest, to each year’s blend. The reserve wines are matured slowly for up to five years in large oak casks specially imported from France, before being used in the blend. This creates extra complexity and mature flavours.These reserve wines produce a multi-vintage cuvée in the traditional Roederer style, known for its body, finesse and depth of flavour. Similar to Roederer’s Brut Premier NV Champagne, Quartet contains a proportion of reserve wines. 100% estate grown, the blend comprises 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir - the opposite proportions from those used in Roederer’s Brut Premier. Only the cuvee (first pressing of 545 litres/ton) is used, gently pressed from the pulp with minimal skin contact. Fermenting at 18°C in high-grade stainless steel tanks, with no malolactic fermentation, ensures the wines age well and retain the fresh style that is one of the characteristics of Roederer wines, even after a minimum of two years on its lees. Quartet is crisp and elegant with complex pear, spice and hazelnut flavours. It is fresh and lightly fruity with great finesse and depth of flavour.
Vineyards
Jean-Claude Rouzaud, then president of Champagne Louis Roederer and fifth generation descendant of the founder, selected the 580-acre Anderson Valley vineyard and winery site in 1982. Rouzaud, who has since handed down the family tradition and position to son Frédéric, believed that estate-owned vineyards were essential to ensure top quality wine, and had searched California for ideal growing conditions throughout the course of several years. The Anderson Valley offered the cool climate and well-drained soils that are ideally suited to the Roederer winemaking style. This premium grape growing region’s proximity to the ocean gives rise to a gentle cycle of warm days and cool nights, allowing grapes to mature slowly on the vine and develop full varietal character. To achieve an optimum balance of acids and sugars in the estate’s grapes, Rouzaud introduced an ‘open lyre’ trellis system for training the vines on moveable wires, providing more exposure to sunlight than traditional trellising methods. There are four distinct vineyards on the estate - hence the name Quartet – from which all the grapes are sourced. The grapes are the same as used in Champagne - Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The estate covers 230 hectares in total.
Visit the web site for Quartet
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