The SOMM Journal

October/November 2014

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{ SOMMjournal.com }  59 whole Roederer approach—in everything—is minimalist. So for us, this is a chance to see what Anderson Valley actually tastes like." walking the line Domaine Anderson's winemaker Jerry Murray describes himself as a Pinot Noir lover who learned winemaking rather than a winemaker who later fell in love with Pinot Noir. Before com - ing on board in June 2013, Murray was winemaker at Van Duzer in Oregon's Willamette Valley, and before that, at top estates in New Zealand and Germany. "Oregon teaches you about urgency," he says. "There, vineyards are more at the mercy of Mother Nature, who is less forgiving than she is in California. You have to learn to be very disciplined about your work in the vineyard, and a little crafty." Asked about the kind of wines coming from Domaine Anderson in the next few years, Murray says, "On the palate, we like length over width. We want purity, class, grace and agility. Though we don't know our vineyards extremely well yet, these ideas are ingrained in our thinking because they are Roederer characteristics." And finally there's Jeremy Seysses, a highly accomplished winemaker in Burgundy who had never consulted before he agreed to do so for Domaine Anderson. Seysses's close friend Jean- Baptiste Lecaillon, Chef des Cave of Louis Roederer Champagne and now also Executive Vice President of all Roederer properties, pressed him to lend his palate and technical expertise. "I've had people ask me to consult before," says Seysses. "But I have never agreed because it always seemed to me that they just wanted a Burgundy endorse - ment . . . they wanted to be known as a New World Dujac. Roederer is different. They understand that France is France and the U.S. is the U.S. With Domaine Anderson, they wanted to build something on its own merits, and that was attractive to me. "In so much of the world, better means bigger," he continues. "And now there's also the contemporary reaction to that, which is making wines that are so high in acidity that they're shrill. At Domaine Anderson, I think we can make wines that walk the line between the two. I think we can make wines that have fruit and generosity but that are weightless and restrained. It's the one aes - thetic I can completely relate to." Celebrating the release of Domaine Anderson, VIPs included Xavier Barlier, SVP Marketing & Communication for Maisons Marques & Domaines; Pierre Lasserre, Sommelier, Ritz-Carlton Chicago (a Four Seasons property); Jerry Murray, Domaine Anderson Winemaker; and Even Arnesen, Midwest Regional Manager for Maisons Marques & Domaines. PHOTO: PETER JEZIORO

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