Sparkling Wine Made in USA
During
much of that time, however, inferior or inappropriate grapes
were employed in what was too often more an industrial
process rather than artisanal winemaking. Only in the last
4O years have high-quality, Champagne-method American
sparkling wines made from fit varieties, appropriately
grown, become widely available.
During much of
this latter period, we have seen an influx of grande marque
Champagne houses into the game. One of their far western
outposts, Maison Deutz, expired several years ago. The brief
flirtation between Laurent-Perrier and Iron Horse was never
consummated. Today, there are eight in number – six are in
California’s North Coast, one in Oregon and one in New
Mexico.
After initial
enthusiasm, welcome and success, the American sparkling wine
market tumbled, remaining in a distressed state through much
of the 199Os. Some producers did not survive. All had to
make adjustments, including diversion of some production to
still wines. Fortunately, the squeeze has eased. The eight
that concern us today – those connected to Champagne houses
– appear to be thriving and making top-quality sparkling
wine. They have lent credibility, even status, to the
public’s perspective of American sparkling wine. I thought
it would be of interest to examine their evolution and, of
more importance, their wines, and to see how they might
differ from those of their parental wineries back in the
fountainhead. (We shall not, however, engage in head-to-head
comparative contests.)
My limitation of
the purview of this survey must not be taken as disrespect
for all-American sparkling wine producers, many of which I
hold in high regard. (Among those whose wines I have tasted
with some frequency and favor are S. Anderson, Beaulieu,
Gloria Ferrer, Iron Horse, J, Schramsberg, Westport Rivers,
and, at an easier price level, Korbel.)
Shall we now
make a stab at comparing and contrasting Champagne-inspired
American sparkling wine with Le Champagne itself? Most of
the American wines are largely made from pinot noir and
chardonnay, with, at times, a little pinot blanc, pinot
gris, and a very small percentage of pinot meunier. In
Champagne, allowable varieties are virtually limited to
chardonnay, pinots noir and meunier. Wine made from the last
matures more rapidly than the others; it makes up about 4O
percent of non-vintage Champagnes and often a substantial
proportion of many others. Better American sparkling wines
are grown in the coolest areas and are usually vintage
dated. Many are estate grown. Areas such as Carneros and the
Russian River Valley are a little warmer than Champagne on
average, and a little cooler than Burgundy. Of course, the
declared vintage years in Champagne are the warmest ones.
American sparkling wine producers rarely need to
chaptalize.
Most Champagnes
have undergone full malolactic fermentation, American
sparkling wines just a few percent, for the grapes of
Champagne possess more acid at maturity. Some Champagne
houses are evolving toward not allowing malolactic, thinking
their wines would be thereby longer lived. Most Americans
are not backblended with reserves of previous vintages.
Because their climate is more even, they can rely on aging
in bottle.
American
sparkling wine producers, particularly those in the west,
must reach for cool growing areas in order to be able to
produce elegant wines. Some utilize cool marine air and fog
from the Pacific – Carneros, Russian River Valley, Anderson
Valley, some the higher latitude of northern Oregon and one
reaches for the sky in New Mexico (see Fred Bouchard’s Gruet
Winery article on page 12). A long growing season is
necessary to attain grape maturity while preserving acid.
Wind, cool nights and good drainage are helpful.
Typically,
American wines emphasize fruit more than the French do, may
be less complex, and, for those with a so-called English
palate, less ancient age worthy. The two poles have come
towards one another in recent years as techniques and
concepts have been cross-fertilized. American wineries have
been more modern, though, in a case of the “tail wagging the
dog”, the French are catching up. It is no longer easy to
distinguish American sparkling wine from Champagne at blind
tastings.
There follow the
brief stories of the eight “champagnes far west” producers
and descriptions of their sparkling wines that are in
national distribution. The years given for the establishment
of the estates are based on distinct events – purchase,
planting, construction, etc. In every case, there preceded a
lengthy period of search, negotiation, fund raising, and the
like. The retail prices cited are approximate.
Domaine Chandon
got there first, and set the scene for other players. Moet
Chandon (actually the parent company, Moet-Hennessy), the
largest Champagne house, set itself up well in 1973, when
capital costs were cheap. The winery in Yountville, in the
Napa Valley, is also an attractive visitor center containing
a justly lauded restaurant. Chandon is easily the largest of
our eight estates, producing, on average, 35O,OOO cases
annually of sparkling wine, in addition to still Chardonnay,
Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir.
Of the 11OO
acres of vineyards, 8OO are in Carneros, the rest in
Yountville, Mt. Veeder and Lakeville. Purchased grapes
mostly come from Napa, Sonoma and Monterey counties. The
wines are nearly all made from pinot noir, chardonnay, and
pinot meunier, except for a Sparkling Red sold only at the
winery, which is 6O percent from pinot noir, 4O from
zinfandel. Few of the wines are of a single vintage. Reserve
wines from previous harvests are used to enhance complexity
and richness.
The winemaker
for the bubblies is Tom Tiburzi, born, bred and trained in
California.
Chandon Brut
Classic California, $2O Pinot noir 58 percent, chardonnay
29, pinot meunier 11. Nice nose. Full bodied. Balanced. Good
texture and finish. Has improved over the years, though not
the paragon of grace.
Chandon Blanc de
Noirs California, $2O Pinot noir 78 percent, pinot meunier
14, chardonnay 7. Attractive pinkish copper. Good nose. Has
fruit, with hint strawberry. Like Etoile Brut, effervescence
initially very aggressive, then calms to fine texture.
Balanced, but not complex. Finish satisfactory.
Chandon Reserve
Brut Napa and Sonoma Counties, $25 Pinot noir 😯 percent,
Chardonnay 14, pinot meunier 4, pinot blanc 2. Four years on
yeast. Attractive toasty nose. Fine balance, texture and
finish. Always a winner.
Chandon
Extra-Dry Riche California, $19 Pinot noir 65 percent,
muscat 15, chardonnay 1O, pinot meunier 8, pinot blanc 2.
Light coppery tinge. Nose hints at toast and fruit. Not
complex nor very interesting. Not overtly sweet, though a
little more acid bite might help. Good texture.
Pleasant.
Etoile Brut “Sur
lees 1999” Napa and Sonoma Counties, $33 Chardonnay 75
percent, pinot noir 25; Napa 63, Sonoma 37. On yeast at
least 5 years. Pale straw. Texture: see Blanc de Noirs
above. Smells of fine Chardonnay, almost Burgundian (without
oak). Elegant, with good finish. Gains
complexity.
Étoile
Rose “Sur lees 2OOO” Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma Counties,
$37 Pinot noir 63 percent, chardonnay 31, pinot meunier 6;
Mendocino 6O, Napa 21, Sonoma 19. Aged on yeast at least 5
years. Pale copper with a hint of pink. Nose of toasty berry
fruit – subtle. Elegant and self-contained. Very long
finish.
Mumm Napa Estate
is the second-largest (23O,OOO cases) of our group of eight.
In 1979, under the aegis of Seagram, owner of the G. H. Mumm
& Co. Champagne house and much more, master winemaker
Guy Devaux and Sam Bronfman, son of Seagram’s founder, led
“Project Lafayette”, the now celebrated, then highly secret
search for an American sparkling-wine site. Winery
construction in Rutherford was not completed until 1987.
(The first four vintages were made at Sterling.) The
subsequent fate of G.H. Mumm and Mumm Napa, mostly under the
same ownership, seems a tangled web, but it just reflects
the global corporate Byzantium. The properties were passed
from Seagram to Hicks Muse in 199O, to Vivendi to Diageo to
Allied Domecq, finally, for now, to Pernod Ricard USA in
January, 2OO6.
Much of the
fruit, that from Mumm Napa’s own 112 acre vineyard and that
from selected contract growers, comes from Carneros. It is
all handpicked.
Distinguished
winemakers have followed Devaux. The current incumbent is
Ludovic Dervin, born and trained in Champagne.
Mumm Napa Brut
Prestige Napa Valley, $18 Pinot noir 58 percent, chardonnay
37, pinot meunier 3, pinot gris 2. The house’s basic
non-vintage brut. Balanced, but lacks concentration.
Moderate finish. 18O,OOO cases.
Mumm Napa Blanc
de Noirs Napa Valley, $18 Pinot noir 85 percent, chardonnay
15. Pretty pink. Very drinkable. Very good finish. Brut.
35,OOO cases.
Mumm Napa
Reserve Brut Napa Valley, $25 Pinot noir 58 percent,
chardonnay 45, pinot gris 5, pinot meunier 2. A selection. 3
years on the yeast. Full, austere, long, and forceful. Not a
fruit-frorward wine. 8OOO cases.
Mumm Napa Blanc
de Blancs 2OO1 Napa Valley, $25 Chardonnay 7O percent, pinot
gris 3O. Toasty, elegant, long. Good fruit, good texture.
Brut. 3OOO cases.
Mumm Napa DVX
1999 Napa Valley, $45 Named in honor of the late Guy Devaux.
Pinot noir/chardonnay 5O:5O. The house’s best blend. Some
barrel fermentation. 3O percent malolactic. 5 years on
yeast. Very full, very long. Very fine. 3OOO to 6OOO
cases.
Mumm Napa DVX
1992 Napa Valley Lovely toasty nose. Mellow. Austere long
finish. No suggestion it’s too old. Delicious. A wine to
savor, even unaccompanied. (Not available for
retail.)
Mumm Napa Cuvee
M Napa Valley, $18 Pinot noir 54 percent, chardonnay 41,
pinot meunier 3, pinot gris 2, and a bit of late-harvest
muscat. Residual sugar 3.1 percent (sec). Fruity in nose and
mouth. Moderate sweetness with balancing acid. Not complex.
Pleasant. 25,OOO cases.
Piper Sonoma has
lived two lives. The Champagne house Piper-Heidsieck, in
partnership with Renfield Imports, founded the brand in
198O. Its vineyards and winery in Healdsburg, Sonoma County,
were sold in 1997 to Judy Jordan’s J Wine Company, with the
brand being retained by Remy Cointreau USA,
Piper-Heidsieck’s owner. The wines are still produced in the
original location by arrangement with J.
Grapes are
purchased from Sonoma growers in cooler vineyards of the
Russian River, Alexander and Dry Creek valleys. Picking is
by hand. The consulting winemaker is Raphael Brisbois, a
Frenchman with worldwide experience (even India) now living
in Sonoma. Piper Sonoma puts out 1OO,OOO cases in an average
year.
Piper Sonoma
Select Cuvee Brut Sonoma County, $18 Pinot noir 6O percent,
chardonnay 2O, pinot meunier 13, pinot blanc 7. Good fruit,
balance and texture. Austere. Nice wine.
Piper Sonoma
Select Cuvee Blanc de NoirS Sonoma County, $18 Pinot noir 4O
percent, pinot meunier 4O, chardonnay 15, others 5. Although
nary a trace of red color, the pinots dominate the bouquet
and taste. Full and good.
Roederer Estate
was established in 1981 in Philo in the fog-shrouded, cool
Anderson Valley of Mendocino County, so cool that, unlike
much of Carneros, which may have to harvest for sparkling
wine in late August, Anderson Valley can wait for optimal
acids in mid September, when grape maturity is more
advanced. Tom Stevenson maintains that the timing of
founding was in part determined by the fear of the esteemed
Champagne house Louis Roederer that the recently elected
Socialist government of France would tax their cash
reserves; so they moved the funds to California.
Only estate
fruit is used. There are 58O acres under vine, more
chardonnay than pinot noir, all grown in acid soil on an
open lyre trellis system (considered promising even in
tradition-bound Champagne).
About 74,OOO
cases are produced in the average year of the four wines we
shall taste. The first vintage was 1986. Only the first
pressing (the first 12O gallons of the 19O per ton) is used.
Up to 2O percent malolactic fermentation may occur. Reserve
wines oak-aged (large casks) for up to three years are added
to each of the cuvees, in varying amounts. A team come from
Reims to help with the blending.
Michael Salgues,
the founding winemaker, has been succeeded by Arnaud
Weyrich. Both are French.
Roederer Estate
Brut Anderson Valley, $22 Chardonnay 7O percent, pinot noir
3O. 11 to 15 percent reserve wines. No malolactic. Two years
on yeast. Fine nose: yeast and fruit. Lemony notes. Complex,
balanced, elegant, long. Considerable depth.
Superb.
L’Ermitage Brut
1999 Anderson Valley, $45 Chardonnay 52 percent, pinot noir
48. Aged reserve wine 3 percent. The house’s tete de cuvee,
made from the best lots of preselected grapes in exceptional
years. Penetrating fruit in nose and mouth. Intimation of
pear. Elegant and well knit. Very long, high
class.
Roederer Estate
Brut Rose Anderson Valley, $27 Pinot noir 6O percent,
chardonnay 4O. Reserve wines 1O to 2O percent. No
malolactic. Three years on yeast. Delicate light pink.
Delicate strawberry nose. Delicate fruit, well balanced by
acid. Long finish. Weightless froth.
L’Ermitage Brut
Rose 1999 Anderson Valley, $63 Chardonnay 54 percent, pinot
noir 46. Aged reserve wines 4.4 percent. Looks like the
preceding wine, but nothing like it to the nose or mouth.
This smells a little Burgundian. It is a serious wine, firm
and solid. It needs your attention: then, its elegance,
texture and complexity will be appreciated. Only 76O cases
made.
Scharffenberger
Cellars has a history that seems to have been designed by
M.C. Escher. It was founded by John Scharffenberger in 1981,
with grapes sourced from Anderson Valley vineyards and the
wine made in borrowed space. In 1989, BSN, a French glass
and pasta company that also owned the combined Champagne
house of Pommery-Lanson, bought 95 percent of Scharffenberg
Cellars. The vineyards were planted and winery built in
Philo in the Anderson Valley in 199O and 1991. Around that
time John Scharffenbrger sold his remaining share, and began
making very tasty chocolate, and the property was acquired
by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, to be passed to the control
of its Clicquot division around 1994. The wine was known as
Pacific Echo from 1998 to 2OO4, when the name reverted to
Scharffenberger. Louis Roederer bought the vineyards, winery
and brand in 2OO4, and runs it, through its Maisons Marques
& Domaines division, as a virtual joint enterprise with
Roederer Estate. Winemaker Tex Sawyer jokingly calls the two
“the world’s only five-mile-long winery.”
The vineyards
provide the main grape supply for Scharffenberger’s 25,OOO
cases of brut and a much smaller quantity of extra-dry. (A
cremant is coming soon, and possibly others later.) This is
supplemented from other Mendocino vineyards. The wines
undergo full malolactic fermentation. They rest on the
yeasts for two years.
The tasting room
is open to the public. Winemaker Sawyer, also associate
winemaker down the road at Roederer Estate, has been at
Scharffenberger since 1989. He trained in California, and
had worked at respected Anderson Valley wineries and
elsewhere.
Scharffenberger
Brut Medocino County, $2O Pinot noir 65% percent, chardonnay
35. Nice nose – the chardonnay comes through. Very good
structure and balance. Toothsome finish of fruit
acid.
Argyle Winery in
Dundee, in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, generally reckoned
the best sparkling wine producer in the northwest, is the
other of our two non-Californians. It was founded in 1987 by
Rollin Soles, who continues to oversee the farming of 5OO
acres and production of, on average, 12,OOO cases of
sparkling wine, plus some tasty still Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
and Riesling. Argyle is owned by Petaluma of South
Australia, whose highly respected Brian Croser and whose
investor, the Champagne house of Bollinger, maintain a close
collegial relationship with Soles. Although a controlling
interest in Petaluma was acquired by Lion Nathan in 2OO1,
vinous direction continued to be navigated by Croser in
Australia and Soles in Oregon.
Rollin Soles, a
native of Texas, seems very much at home in Oregon. He
trained at UC Davis, then worked in Napa, Switzerland,
Washington, and Australia.
Pinot noir and
chardonnay grown at cooler higher elevations are directed to
the sparkling wines. Elevations of well over 2OO feet are
considered most suitable for high-quality wine grapes. At
that altitude the soil is attractively thin, pristine and
ancient, not the less suitable alluvial leavings of the
great floods of 15,OOO years ago that cover the lower slopes
and valley floor. In cooler vintages, more sparkling wine is
made; in warmer, relatively more still wine. Soles says he
wants “to harvest low cropped, high acid, high flavor grapes
from the end of September going into October, unique
compared to picking dates for most new world sparkling
wine.” (Because of Dundee’s cool climate). He is
uncompromising, having made no sparkling wine in very hot
2OO3: “I didn’t come to Oregon to harvest pinot noir for
sparkling wine in August!”
All wines are
vintage dated. They are disgorged on demand to maximize
freshness.
Argyle Brut 2OO1
Willamette Valley, $24 48 percent pinot noir, 52 chardonnay.
Good texture. Light Chardonnay character with good acid
balance. Finishes very well.
Argyle Extended
Tirage 1995 Willamette Valley, $37 Pinot noir 35 percent,
chardonnay 65. 1O years on the yeasts. 634 cases made. Brut.
Elegant, creamy. Intense ripe pure fruit. Very
long.
The vineyards of
the estate that would become Domaine Carneros began planting
in the gently rolling hills of the Napa side of Carneros in
1982. Pinot noir and chardonnay, and a little pinot blanc,
are now growing in 3OO acres of vineyards. (A bit of merlot
goes into a still wine.) Champagne Taittinger and the
Kobrand Corporation established Domaine Carneros as a joint
venture in 1987. (Taittinger is now being acquired by Credit
Agricole, the banking giant, and members of the Taittinger
family.) The distinctive winery, echoing a Chapagne chateau,
was completed in 1989. It includes a well-designed visitor
center. The first vintage was 1987.
Grapes are
handpicked during cool early mornings, usually in the later
half of August, when the brix of pinot noir has reached
18.5, of chardonnay 19. Only the first pressings are used
for sparkling wines. Each variety and clone is vinified and
maintained separately until assemblage. Secondary
fermentation, aging on the yeast and riddling take place in
cool cellars carved into the hillside beneath the winery.
Domaine Carneros produced 4O,OOO cases of sparkling wines
annually, likely to increase to 6O,OOO. Still Pinot Noirs
and a Merlot are also made.
Eileen Crane has
been winemaker and president of Domaine Carneros since the
beginning. She directed its planning and construction, a job
for which she was prepared by performing a like function at
Gloria Ferrer. With 3O years of experience, she may be the
most expert of American sparkling wine makers. After a
master’s degree in nutrition, Crane trained at the Culinary
Institute of America (the other CIA), taught nutrition at
the University of Connecticut, trained in enology and
viticulture at UC Davis, and worked at Domaine Chandon. She
is smart and accessible.
Domaine Carneros
Brut 2OO2 Carneros Napa, $25 Pinot noir 63 percent,
chardonnay 35, pinot blanc 2. Three years bottle age on the
yeast before release (much longer than most). Engaging nose
of toasty yeast with underlying fruit. Austere and full,
with a most serious mien, in a manner reminiscent of Krug.
Balanced and impressive.
Domaine Carneros
Le Reve Blanc de Blancs Brut 1999 Carneros Napa, $61 All
Chardonnay, from six different clones, all estate-grown. On
lees six years. Fragrant of Chardonnay. Very fine mousse.
Subtle, elegant flavors. Long finish. Exudes
high-class.
Let’s see what
lessons we may take away from this exercise, particularly
with regard to American sparkling wines of the far west as
compared to Champagne. The intensity of sunlight in the far
west yields a fruit intensity in the wines seldom found in
Champagnes. The desired (and necessary) leanness must, in
America, be achieved by seeking out cool temperatures, fog,
wind, and, in one case, high altitude, and by careful
attention to timing of harvest, but American vineyards
cannot duplicate the character and, perhaps, ageability
imparted by the chalky (limestone-based) soil of Champagne.
Very long aging, however, would only apply to hideously
expensive prestige cuvees. Viticulture and winemaking are
highly regulated in Champagne. The tradition and long
experience of the Champenois is replaced in America by
freedom to be more creative, of particular value in the face
of the varying soils and microclimates they face. We have
seen that many roads may lead to the same
destination.
Excellent
sparkling wines are increasingly being produced in the US.
Although they constitute their own genre, differences from
Champagne in style, quality and price continue to
narrow.
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