Pale salmon-pink in color, the 2006 L'Ermitage Brut Rosé, made with about 11 grams per liter dosage, gives up bombastic scents of warm yellow peaches, quince paste and musk melon with oodles of red berries, floral perfume, brioche and buttery pastry notes. The palate is medium-bodied and offers explosive flavor layers with a mineral backbone and creamy mousse, finishing very long and layered. Disgorged in January of 2014, it's in a wonderful spot for drinking now but will continue to develop in the cellar. - Erin Brooks

Bubbly doesn’t get much better than this elegant, grand and sumptuous rosé. The color is pale salmon, while aromas showcase an exotic blend of spices and flowers. The flavor is vivid and enticing but not as simple as just saying cherries and ginger. Though this is dry, it’s so mature and rich that it almost tastes sweet. A wonderful, ginger-cookie flavor lingers a long time on the finish. This will improve in a cool cellar through at least 2020.

Roederer Estate winemaker Arnaud Weyrich recalls the lead-up to the 2006 vintage well: Torrential winter rains caused mudslides and floods, and, for a few days, Anderson Valley was virtually cut off from the rest of civilization. That abundant soil moisture led to a bumper crop of plump, healthy berries. L’Ermitage Rosé draws on many of the vintage’s choice lots of pinot noir and chardonnay, supported by barrel-aged reserve chardonnay from the 2003 vintage. This leads with a leafy scent of barely ripe pinot noir, autumnal and quiet, supported by a delicate toasty impression from seven years on its lees in bottle. With air, it blooms from cherry tomato skin and herbs into more lifted territory, suggesting red raspberries and rose petals, the fruit gaining plumpness and depth without losing its firm, vinous structure. It’s a savory sparkling wine to decant or age, and it would provide a perfect partner for gently smoked salmon. (595 cases)