United States · Mendocino

Roederer Estate/Bon Vivant

Roederer Estate makes traditional-method sparkling wine from eight Anderson Valley sites; Bon Vivant Brut is a separately documented California Chardonnay–Pinot Noir bottling.

The producer

Jean-Claude Rouzaud founded Roederer Estate in Anderson Valley in 1982. Its 620 acres span eight sites, from the warmer Boonville hills to the cooler, fog-affected Deep End, and the estate makes its wines from grapes grown on its own property. Bottle fermentation, lees ageing and reserve-wine blending turn those separate vineyard lots into Anderson Valley Brut, Brut Rosé, L’Ermitage and L’Ermitage Rosé.

Bon Vivant Brut is a separate California sparkling wine whose production link to Roederer Estate is not verified. Its 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir blend is first fermented in stainless steel, then fermented in bottle and aged on lees for 24 months. The result is a fine-mousse style with apple, citrus and floral fruit, followed by brioche, toast and hazelnut.

Known for

Traditional-method California sparkling wine: estate-grown Anderson Valley fruit and reserve-wine blending at Roederer Estate; Bon Vivant Brut is a separate 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir bottle.

Notable facts

The story

Six Years to the First Brut

Jean-Claude Rouzaud was president of Champagne Louis Roederer when he began looking for a California site in 1982. He selected a 580-acre property in Mendocino County, then put the first vines into the ground in 1984. The winery followed in 1986, giving the new Anderson Valley estate a place to turn its own fruit into sparkling wine by bottle fermentation. In 1988, Roederer Estate released its inaugural multi-vintage Brut. From the start of Rouzaud’s search to the first Brut reaching the market, the sequence took six years: a site chosen, vines planted, a winery built and a finished sparkling cuvée released.

From the atlas

Roederer Estate/Bon Vivant

At A Glance

The Producer

Roederer Estate began in Anderson Valley in 1982, when Jean-Claude Rouzaud, then president of Champagne Louis Roederer, established a California sparkling-wine estate. Its wines start with estate-grown grapes from eight Anderson Valley vineyard sites, then take shape through bottle fermentation, lees ageing and blending. Bon Vivant Brut belongs on this page as a separately documented California sparkling bottle: its production or ownership link to Roederer Estate is not established, so its coastal-vineyard fruit and 60/40 Chardonnay–Pinot Noir blend stand on their own.

Place

Roederer Estate’s 620 acres stretch across eight Anderson Valley sites, from the warmer hills around Boonville to the cooler Deep End. That spread lets a sparkling-wine blend draw on fruit ripened under different conditions within one valley: Boonville sites bring a warmer growing environment, while the Deep End is shaped by cooler, fog-affected conditions. In a multi-vintage Brut, those components can be assembled for fruit, acidity and body rather than relying on one vineyard or one harvest.

Soil And Site

The documented site contrast is climatic rather than geological. Fog reaches the cooler Deep End, while the Boonville hills sit at the warmer end of Roederer Estate’s Anderson Valley holdings. For sparkling wine, slower conditions can preserve acidity and keep citrus and apple notes lively; riper components can add fuller fruit and weight to the blend. No soil type, altitude or named parcel is established for this estate, so the valley’s temperature range is the useful physical detail.

Story

The estate’s story is a practical California build-out. Rouzaud chose an original 580-acre Mendocino County property, planted its first vines in 1984 and built the winery in 1986; the holdings later reached 620 acres. The vineyard scale matters because Roederer Estate says every bottle uses grapes grown on its own property, linking the Anderson Valley sites directly to the wines in bottle. Continuity also runs through the cellar: Michel Salgues was the founding winemaker, and Arnaud Weyrich succeeded him in 2002, making them the estate’s only two winemakers in its first four decades.

Vineyards And Cellar

Roederer Estate reports farming 25% of Anderson Valley’s 2,500 planted acres with sustainable practices. Its eight sites supply the estate fruit, while the cellar turns separate lots into sparkling cuvées through traditional bottle fermentation, lees ageing, riddling and disgorgement. A blend may contain 100 to 200 individual wines, including reserve wines from earlier vintages. That scale of blending can combine fresh citrus-like acidity with broader fruit and lees-derived texture before the wine is bottled for its second fermentation.

Bon Vivant Brut follows a documented but separate route. Its grapes come from multiple vineyards along the California coast, not from a verified Roederer Estate source. The base wine ferments in stainless steel before a second fermentation in bottle, then remains on lees for 24 months. Stainless steel keeps the fruit profile clean, while the lees time is reflected in the toast, brioche and nut notes reported for the finished wine.

Wines

Roederer Estate’s core range begins with the multi-vintage Anderson Valley Brut, first released in 1988, then moves into Brut Rosé, L’Ermitage and L’Ermitage Rosé. The common architecture is traditional-method sparkling wine: estate fruit from Anderson Valley, base wines kept for blending, bottle fermentation and lees ageing. The Brut is the multi-vintage foundation; the rosé bottles add a distinct colour and style within the range; L’Ermitage and its rosé counterpart occupy the prestige-cuvée tier.

Bon Vivant Brut is a separate California sparkling wine with a clear grape recipe: 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. Chardonnay can carry citrus, apple and acidity, while Pinot Noir can add fruit weight and breadth. Its reported sensory profile runs from apple, flowers, toast and hazelnut on the nose to pear, red apple, apricot, honey, nuts and grapefruit on the palate, with a fine mousse from bottle fermentation.

In The Glass

Bon Vivant Brut opens with apple, citrus and floral notes, followed by toast, brioche and hazelnut from its 24 months on lees. The palate is described as creamy and just over medium-bodied, with fine bubbles carrying ripe pear, red apple, apricot and grapefruit. One tasting account finds the wine slightly off-dry with moderate acidity; another finds it dry with medium-high acidity. Both descriptions point toward fresh fruit balanced by lees-derived bread and nut character, with a long finish that may show a distinct bitter edge.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Bon Vivant Brut as a bottle-specific California sparkling wine, rather than as a confirmed Roederer Estate bottling. Its 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir blend makes the structure easy to follow: Chardonnay brings apple, citrus and acidity; Pinot Noir adds fruit and body. Stainless-steel fermentation keeps the base wine focused on fruit, then bottle fermentation and 24 months on lees add fine mousse, brioche, toast and hazelnut. It is a useful first pour for seeing how coastal California fruit and traditional-method ageing meet in one dry-to-slightly-off-dry sparkling style.

Anecdote

Jean-Claude Rouzaud was president of Champagne Louis Roederer when he began looking for a California site in 1982. He selected the Mendocino County property, where the first vines went into the ground in 1984. Two years later, the winery was built. In 1988, Roederer Estate released its inaugural multi-vintage Brut. The sequence ran from a search for a California sparkling-wine site to planted vineyard, working winery and finished Brut in six years, with the 1988 bottling becoming the first multi-vintage Roederer Estate cuvée to reach the market.

Final Word

Roederer Estate is best understood through Anderson Valley fruit assembled across eight sites and shaped in the cellar through blending, bottle fermentation and lees ageing. Bon Vivant Brut offers a separately documented California expression: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, fine mousse, apple and citrus fruit, then brioche and nuts from time on lees.

Sources

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