I imagine if I was a wine maker of Pinot and Chardonnay grapes in the Northwest US (Cali, Or, Wa), I would at least “secretly” apply at least a half barrel of my Pinot and Chardonnay bounty into a small secret Sparkling project, not offered to the general public (initially), but just for S&G. Any of you Pinot/Chard makers out there (Todd, Kevin, Marcus, Joe, Jamie, et others) make this secret sparkler ever? And how did it turn out?
There’s a few, like a non-commercial pair from SLH Pinot (Rosella’s Vyd. and Garys’ Vyd.) that Jim Varner makes that’s been mentioned on here, and others that haven’t.
Excuse my ignorance, but why would such a wine need to be kept a secret? Some sort of US legislation preventing a licensed winery from producing sparkling wine without additional permits, etc.?
Of course I’m not suggesting a mandate for secrecy exists but implying a winemaker might not want to release the existence of an experimental sparkler until they have had time to evaluate the wine or even the business opportunity.
Mainly just curious how Santa Cruz, Sonoma Coast, or Russian River grapes might perform is a sparkler. (Yes, I do know Anderson Valley grapes are used in some…)
Analemma makes a really nice sparkling wine from Pinot from the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge (Atavus Vineyard).
Plenty of other NW wineries making sparkling wine - either methode champenoise or pet nat - (e.g., Argyle, Treveri Cellars, Johan, Day, Mellon Meyer), but Analemma is the best I’ve tried. To my knowledge, none of the Oregon winemakers on this board that you reference have made any.
I don’t know about the folks mentioned in the OP but (yes, it’s Mendocino), Dan Riven works at Lichen making Still and Sparkling wines. Dan’s better half is Stephanie of Signal Ridge, who makes a Sparkling Rosé.
Together, they’re The Princess and The Peasant.
The still wine - “Les Pinots” Pinot Noir/Pinot Gris blend - is one I’d like to try…
SLH, too. The reason we’ve seen so many “big” wines from that region is because it takes a lot of hang time for the acids to come down. Growers and winemakers are doing a great job of figuring the challenges of that region out. The two I mentioned showed a lot of site expression. I particularly love Rosella’s Vyd. That added dimension means I’d pick another bottle of that over any other CA sparkler.
Thanks for the info on The Princess and The Peasant, Analemma, UltaMarine, Analemma, and Waxwing and Kathryn Kennedy. I have also been a fan of the Argyle Extended Tirage sparklers. But typically, in Tejas, these are certainly some new wines I have never heard of but would like to try. If I did not mention a producer or winemaker, it is not from slight but from ignorance. It certainly appears many secrets are OUT! But I am sure there are more secrets still in hiding, waiting to be revealed!
Thanks for the link, Wes…I went out there, saw the Kathryn Kennedy Cuvee, then realized that K&L can’t ship to Texas. I appreciate the info regardless. If you are following the thread, Texas is working a bill to allow retail into Texas.
Kathleen Inman at Inman Family makes very nice sparklers.
I think the big question is why I’d spend $65 on a CA sparkler (which seems to be the prevailing price point) when I can get grower Champagne for about $40 (at least in Chicago)? Does it really have anything special to say? I don’t know that makes the difference in tariff worth it?
Go back 15 years and the only good domestic rosé was under the radar tiny batches. There was no market for it, so winemakers made it for themselves. I think that’s the topic here. Nerdy wines that likely make no economic sense, either non-commercial or rare as hen’s teeth, and making absolutely no sense to scale up. The one I linked, I think that’s the last vintage of just a few, and likely the last 5 bottles.
I was at a winery when fruit for a non-commercial one came in to be pressed. Temperature controlled van. One ton of absolutely perfect fruit carefully loaded in individual FYBs. Zero mog, no even slightly ruptured grapes, it was like a Harry & David delivery.