Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020 - 35

Top 100 Wineries

Radio-Coteau
CALIFORNIA | SONOMA COAST
Coaxing ripeness in the shadow of the cold Paciﬁc, Eric Sussman
farms a distinctly Californian range of biodynamic wines.

ERIC SUSSMAN

ZINFANDEL AND PINOT NOIR SHARE little in common, other than their thin skins and their propensity to grow astonishing wines in the Goldridge and sandstone soils of Sonoma's far coast.
Eric Sussman's zinfandel is as transparent to his
Occidental site as his pinot noir, a radical concept ampliﬁed by the dynamic intensity of oldvine fruit. One parcel of zin dates to the original
owners of the ranch on Harrison Grade Road,
the Morelli family, who settled here in 1893 and
later replanted these 2.8 acres in 1946. Robert
von Weidlich planted another parcel in 1981,
and sold fruit from both to Sussman for his ﬁrst
Radio-Coteau wine in 2002. After Sussman purchased the ranch in 2012, he began to convert it
to a biodynamic farm while continuing to buy
fruit from like-minded growers on the far coast.
He's planted 9.5 acres of pinot noir on his low
rise eight miles from the Paciﬁc, while sustaining
6.4 acres of zin for what was one of the most profound California wines we tasted this year. -J.G.

Roederer Estate
CALIFORNIA | ANDERSON VALLEY
Roederer Estate produces fresh and precise sparkling wines from
the cool Deep End of Anderson Valley.
ARNAUD WEYRICH JOINED ROEDERER as an intern
in 1994, working with the estate's founding
winegrower, Michel Salgues, to identify phylloxera in a vineyard just coming into maturity.
He returned in 2000, to train with Jean-Baptiste
Lécaillon, who oversees production for all of the
Roederer properties, and with Salgues on the
eve of his retirement. Weyrich's long tenure is
just one advantage of family management. The
others include wines like L'Ermitage, made only
in the most successful vintages in this marginal
climate, with only the gentle ﬁrst pressing of
the grapes and no malolactic conversion of the
acidity. The goal is to sustain the freshness of
the wine as it ages, building complexity out of
the clarity of the coastal fruit. This is not Champagne, though L'Ermitage offers the ﬁnesse of
Champagne from California's Paciﬁc climate
and soils-particularly when it comes to rosé,
a Roederer specialty. As longtime viticulturist Bob Gibson increases the acreage he farms
under organics (54 acres) and biodynamics
(26), Weyrich continues to elevate the delicate
skin macerations of pinot noir for his rosés, the
vintage-dated L'Ermitage and the multivintage
Anderson Valley Brut Rosé. -J.G.

2016 Sonoma Coast Lemorel Zinfandel ($54, 98
points) A direct connection to the far Sonoma coast,
this zin carries a cool oceanic charge without any burden of fruit or heat. As with all of his wines, Sussman
makes it with no additions other than a little sulfur at
the crush pad. It's zinny in its effusive energy, a view
of the Paciﬁc through the thin skins of zin and a textural pleasure that's hard to resist.
2017 Sonoma Coast Belay Pinot Noir ($70, 93
points) This comes from 9.5 acres of pinot noir that
Sussman planted on the estate in 2014 and 2016.
The 2017 gives a tense perspective on the site, with
foresty spice in its tannins shutting down the red
plum and cranberry ﬂavors even as the wine drives
through a long arc of a ﬁnish.

FOUNDED:

2002
OWNER/
WINEMAKER/

2018 Sonoma Coast Heintz Chardonnay ($64, 94
points) Charles Heintz grows chardonnay directly
across the road from Sussman's ranch, his vines
planted in 1982 in the same Goldridge soils and
farmed under organics. Sussman used their fruit to
bottle a clean, fresh and saline chardonnay in 2018,
a wine that grows more delicious from one day to the
next, its savory mineral tones and tart-apple sweetness ready to bring the Paciﬁc to your doorstep.

FOUNDED:

1982

OWNERS:

The Rouzaud
family (Maison
Louis Roederer)
WINEMAKER:

Arnaud Weyrich

VITICULTURIST:

Eric Sussman

Bob Gibson

ACRES OWNED:

580

ANNUAL

PRODUCTION:

4,000 cases

105,000 cases

ESTATE GROWN:

30%

100%

2012 Anderson Valley L'Ermitage Brut Rosé
($75, 94 points) Weyrich blends close to equal
amounts of chardonnay and pinot noir from the ﬁrst
pressing to make the base wine for L'Ermitage, then
adds a small amount of delicately macerated pinot
noir for color and fragrance in this rosé. Eight years
from the vintage and this wine is still youthful, with
pale-pink-raspberry freshness.
2013 Anderson Valley L'Ermitage Brut ($55, 93
points) A selection of the estate's top fruit in 2013,
this wine includes four percent barrel-aged reserve
wine from the 2011 vintage. It's mouthwatering and
dynamic, with layers of ﬂavor, both fresh and more
mature. An elegant, satisfying sparkler with dimension.
Anderson Valley Brut Rosé ($32, 91 points)
This wine has ample red-apple ﬂavor at its center, lingering with hints of spicy orange and ripe peach. That
sweet fruit ﬁnishes clean, with a gentle sweep of acidity, the wine balanced and long.
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