TN: NV Roederer Estate Brut

WINE TALK
1

4/21 disc.

For the price of admission, $22, the NV Roederer Estate Brut NEVER disappoints
It always runs ahead of Gloria Ferrer and Mumm Carneros…and even Domaine Carneros (a tad)
Lt brass
Good bubbles
Upon pouring, dry and closed, short finish
BUT…15 minutes later, its slumber is over, and its palate expands greatly…some rounding of its dosage, dancing minerals, some stone, bread, elegantly restrained, but apparent sunshine fruit…A medium + finish
On a very warm Silicon Valley afternoon leading into evening, this does the trick, and how!
90-91 pts

2

My wife’s favorite! I found this Sparkling to be excellent for the price.

3

I was listening to a podcast the other day with some senior person at Roederer - I cannot remember if it was the brand manager or President or what not - and when they were queried on why they don’t really have a sub $50 entry point Champagne AOC anymore (Collection 2xx tends to be higher) they pointed to their CA sparkler Roederer Estate as what was their lure for younger consumers.

4

And it is an even better value when the local whole foods shuts down and I picked up every bottle they had for $15/.

5

Last winter I decided to buy and taste a bunch of sub $50ish Champagne and snuck in a Roederer Estate in. Except for Bollinger Special Cuvee, our feeling was that Roederer Estate stood up to all of them and was the better value. Although that experiment was with a bottle of the Roederer Brut Premier - still need to get a bottle of Collection 242 and see how it compares.

Ever since then I tend to keep several bottles in the fridge ready to pop. I think they are doing the right thing and directing people to Roederer Estate as the lure into the brand.

6

It’s a really nice wine, but I do wish it had slightly lower dosage.

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7

I was going to say the same thing. Really nice wine; a little sweet for my taste

8

Agree, nice wine, a tad rich. That said, 1/2 bottles routinely go well with tacos in place of the typical margarita.

9

It has been a very solid wine for a long time. It has been a while but I’ve consumed my share of bottles over the years.

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10

Always found this to be a bit of a ‘meh’. The Roederer Estate L’Ermitage, on the other hand, is a bit of a ‘wow’.

11

Although I have not done that in a formal blind panel, that is my general impression too. We have liked (non blind) Roederer Estate over the old Brut Premier too.

And as noted by others, my preferences are likely a function of the sugar – I’m ok with it in in bubbly.