Roederer buys Merry Edwards

Champagne Louis Roederer has acquired the Merry Edwards winery in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley.

The amount paid by the French Champagne house for the 79 acre property was not disclosed.

The winery’s founder, Merry Edwards (pictured), has gained an excellent reputation for her Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blanc.

It is not Louis Roederer’s first purchase in the region. In 1982 it founded Roederer Estate in Anderson Valley to make sparkling wines in California and more recently acquired Scharffenberger Cellars from LVMH in 2004 and Domaine Anderson in 2012, the latter also with a Pinot Noir focus.

Roederer’s CEO, Frédéric Rouzard, told US publication Wine Spectator that the decision to purchase Merry Edwards was, “driven by confidence in her story and values” and the plan was not at all to make “millions of bottles”.

Edwards for her part told the journal that she and Rouzard had been “simpatico from the beginning” and the deal was a, “synergistic exchange”.

It was also revealed that the Roederer group recently bought a hotel at a ski resort in France.