Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/913027
64 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017/2018 { cover story } early 1980s, Jean-Claude Rouzaud, then President of Champagne Louis Roederer, came to California to scout a New World sparkling-wine venture. Napa Valley seemed like the obvious choice; the Napa appel - lation was well-established, and other sparkling-wine producers had already set up shop there. But Rouzaud's natural inclina- tion to take the road less traveled eventually led him to Mendocino County's remote Anderson Valley. After all, he was the scion of Louis Roederer, a man whose talent for innovation and gift of foresight had been passed down through generations. At the time, Anderson Valley was virtu - ally unknown as a wine region. The cool and often rainy valley near the Pacific Ocean had frustrated hopeful winegrowers since the 1800s, and only a handful of wineries called it home when Rouzaud arrived. Yet he saw the potential there and recognized the similarities between its climate and that of Champagne—Anderson Valley also had the added advantage of plentiful undevel - oped land suitable for vineyards. He also noted the increasing quality of the still wines being produced by local wineries. It was proof enough. With the acqui - sition of 580 acres, Champagne Louis Roederer—one of the last great inde- pendent and family-run Champagne houses—took an all-in gamble and established Roederer Estate in 1982, one year before Anderson Valley received its official AVA designation. Fast forward to 1997, when Rouzaud's bet on the Anderson Valley was validated by Newsweek magazine's stunning review In the of the 1992 L'Ermitage Brut. The article declared L'Ermitage, Roederer Estate's prestige cuvée, a worthy rival to any tête de cuvée from Champagne—not bad con - sidering the winery was only ten years old at the time of the vintage. The name L'Ermitage references the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, home to a celebrated collection of French art (though the spelling reflects an attempt to avoid confusion with the Hermitage appellation). Before the revolution in 1917, Russia was closely linked to French culture, and its nobility favored Champagne Louis Roederer. Louis Roederer Cristal, in fact, was the very first tête de cuvee in the world, initially conceived as an exclusive Champagne for Tsar Alexander II in 1878. Winemaker Arnaud Weyrich between two bottles at Roederer Estate.