Scharffenberger Cellars

Yes, this is a double review because it’s hard to discuss these two wines without reference to each other. Both wineries are located in Anderson Valley and make large quantities of high-end, estate-based sparkling wine – which means they grow a lot of Pinot Noir grapes. They are owned by the same company (Champagne house Louis Roederer), and their respective winemakers, Arnaud Weyrich and Tex Sawyer, are each general managers with oversight of their winery’s whole production cycle. Both make a Pinot Noir still wine that, officially at least, is only for tasting room visitors; yet both men are ambitious (or demanding) enough to aim higher than their captive audiences.

For all these similarities, their Pinot Noirs have always been surprisingly different. This is the first vintage that I have liked both wines, and it’s not because they have become more similar. The Roederer has usually been too hard and oak-influenced for my palate, and the Scharffenberger has sometimes been bigger than its fruit could really support. No worries in 2004. The Roederer finally has enough stuffing to stand up to its overt new oak, and more of the refinement typical of the label’s sparklers. The Scharffenberger has more earth and tannin than usual, giving a happily fruity wine a welcome completeness and complexity.

All of this is to say that if you visit either winery, visit them both and try the red wines along with the sparkling wine. The prices are reasonable because still wine is not the bread and butter at these houses, so you can pick up a real Pinot bargain along with your bubbly.

Reviewed May 17, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.