State of Sparkling Wine in California

[John_Glas]

Maybe the higher end wines but the Anderson Valley Brut at $19.97 in MN is a steal.

[Sean_Devaney]

@J_Rock

Which of these producers ages the wines on the lees the longest? Are there any in CA, besides the biggest sparkling producers, that age their wines for more than 3 or so years before releae?

Might be Equinox Extended Tirage Blanc de Blanc 2001

https://equinox.vinespring.com/purchase/detail?item=01eqbbet

[Arv_R]

@Warren_Taranow

Ultramarine can be outstanding, and they’re definitely age-worthy. They occasionally release late disgorged versions that are even better. They’re getting harder to source. Michael Cruse, the winemaker, also releases some nice sparklers under the Cruse Wine Company.

I can’t remember who published it, but there is a podcast / interview with the Ultramarine makers, and they actually talk a little about their commercial strategy and why they don’t align release prices with (higher) secondary market pricing. Worth a quick listen if one covets their bubbly, or is on the list.

[Abbie_S]

We are fans of Laetitia, as well. We were wine club members for awhile.

[Keith_B2]

Has anyone tried the canned sparkling wine from Myriad? I see they also just released a canned sparkling Pinot Grigio too, ‘Canifornication’

[Brian_Tuite]

No Under The Wire fans? I find them gaining more traction each vintage. A recent Brosseau bottle was particularly good.

[JessicaN]

I purchased the canned sparkling and still rose in the spring mostly as an option for pool, beach…. This is the same rose as Myriad produces in bottles as still wine, so not a true sparkling. I love Myriad in bottles and sparkling from folks who make sparkling. Iron Horse has some nice CA sparkling.

[Tom_DeBiase]

There was a stretch of time when I though Iron Horse bubbles had become mediocre but their sparkling program has been totally upgraded the past several years with the addition of Winemaker Sofian Himeur.
I now feel the Iron Horse sparklers are the best quality in California and that includes Ultramarine which can be great but also disappointing at times.

Tom

[Dan_Kravitz]

Korbel Russian River Valley ‘Natural’ apparently still commits the unspeakable crime of being labeled “Champagne”. It’s been a few years since my last bottle, but quality is outstanding, especially in the $20 range.

Dan Kravitz

[JViolini]

@larry_schaffer

@JViolini

Loubud is a sparkling project by Laura Roach who is the asst. winemaker at Sanford down in Santa Rita Hills. She gets Pinot from Spear & Cebada vineyards for BdN (Cebada for rosé as well) & Chard from Sanford & Benedict. They are about $35-45/bottle on her 20% off tier for 2 cases/year - the 1 case/year is 15% off. The rosé is the largest lot at I think about 5-6 barrels. The S&B BdB is something like 144 bottles, others are sub 30

I’ll second this - and Laura is just awesome.

One not mentioned here is Laetitia - great value bubbles and some nice ‘higher end’ ones as well

Cheers

I realized I didn’t finish my post after the Paula Kornell. I was going to mention Goat Bubbles (which someone else did) as well as Laetitia. I actually finally tried it for the first time earlier this year when I was in Paso. I went to UCSB and grew up in Monterey County so driving 101 fairly often the winery was always a road marker for for.

[John_Oglesby]

Lichen Estate has a very good lineup of sparkling wines. In my eyes they are the stars of the Lichen program.

[Nate_Simon]

@Dan_Kravitz

Korbel Russian River Valley ‘Natural’ apparently still commits the unspeakable crime of being labeled “Champagne”. It’s been a few years since my last bottle, but quality is outstanding, especially in the $20 range.

Yep! You’ll get your Wine Nerd membership card revoked if you bring it to dinner, but it’s methode Champers for under $20. Quality is there for the price.

[Dan_Sch]

How timely! A perennial favorite is the Lichen Blan de Noirs, which just handled several champagnes at similar price points in a double blind tasting… the telltale sign on the American wine? “Chalky minerality!”

They also make a Grand Cuvée. At the time I drank the 2013 I found it incredibly similar to the 08 Cristal I’d had recently. Maybe a notch short, but hey!

Finally, Roederer Estate released some NV Brut magnums from 1988-92 back in 2015 or so. They tend to age the magnums more like 3 years or more on the lees, and those bottles were phenomenal! The L’ermitage typically spends about 5 years on the Lee’s and starts to drink well about 10+ years after the vintage… eg the 2007 and 2005 have been drinking really well lately, while the 2013 was still very tight/wound up.

I’ve also found some early teens Under the Wire Alder Springs Chardonnay to be very good! Enjoy!

[Guillermo_M]

@Dan_Sch

They also make a Grand Cuvée. At the time I drank the 2013 I found it incredibly similar to the 08 Cristal I’d had recently. Maybe a notch short, but hey!

Seriously? That good?

[Dan_Sch]

One bottle versus one bottle, but that was my impression. Both were absolutely exceptional to me with a bit more delineation on the Cristal.

[John_Morris]

[John_Glas]
Maybe the higher end wines but the Anderson Valley Brut at $19.97 in MN is a steal.

I misread Arv’s post. I thought he was saying that Roederer intended to raise the price on the basic Anderson Valley wine, but what he said was that they plan to charge more for the basic AOC Champagne, and leave the California bottling as their entry-level sparkler.

[Philip_G]

I had the Under the Wire 2013 Hirsch the other day and it was excellent!

[Alex_N]

Tribute to Grace “Gracias Madre” BdN 100% Grenache is awesome (methode champenoise) stuff.

[Uli_K]

My favorite UTW so far has been the 2016 Alder Springs Pinot Rosé. Still holding on to the Hirsch.

Good to see some love for Barry/Equinox. The work he does for others shows his versatility. The house style is on the richer, yeastier side. I like the entry level ones, but there are always some interesting late disgorged options as well.

Also, Ser sparkling Wirz Riesling - great value from Nicole Walsh.

[Daniel_S]

@Tom_DeBiase

There was a stretch of time when I though Iron Horse bubbles had become mediocre but their sparkling program has been totally upgraded the past several years with the addition of Winemaker Sofian Himeur.
I now feel the Iron Horse sparklers are the best quality in California and that includes Ultramarine which can be great but also disappointing at times.

Interesting. For a while the only sparklings that I consistently liked from Iron Horse were the Russian Cuvee and the Brut LD. The other cuvees just seemed to be missing something. Do you have any recent standouts to recommend?