Derek Rohlffs barrel-ferments and ages his vins clairs for this bottling in older casks, using only indigenous yeasts, and allows the still wines as leisurely ten months of élevage prior to bottling up for secondary fermentation. The wine is made entirely from pinot noir and offers up a refined bouquet of white peach, macadamia nut, fresh-baked bread, a fine base of soil tones, just a touch of buttery oak and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is crisp, young, focused and full-bodied, with a superb core of fruit, lovely soil undertow, frothy mousse, lovely balance and a long, complex and vibrant finish. This is really first class sparkling wine! It is certainly tasty right out of the blocks, but I would love to tuck it away in the cellar for three or four years and allow its secondary layers of complexity to take flight. Fine juice.
