Looking for gift-buying ideas for Valentine’s Day? Well there’s nothing better than spending a few extra bucks on a meaningful wine to celebrate the holiday in style. One of the best examples of this is to enjoy a classy domestic sparkling wine.
The Carneros appellation, located on the edge of San Pablo Bay between Sonoma and Napa, is one of the best places to find these types of elegant bubbles trapped inside a bottle. From a farming standpoint, this special winegrowing region is highlighted by a mixture of clay soils, gentle rolling hills, and a relatively cool climate directly influenced by the bay and the regular flow of air from the ocean. Together, all these factors make it one of the best areas in America to grow chardonnay, pinot noir and the rarer pinot meunier — the only three grape varieties that, by law, can be used to make true Champagne in France.
For more than twenty years, the leading sparkling wine producers in the area have established solid reputations by crafting delicious “house-style” or non-vintage sparklers that are commonly made with wines from multiple vintages in order to create a consistent flavor profile on an annual basis.
However, the step above this is the latest trend that highlights particular vintages. In essence, these newer styles of effervescent bubbles are made with more complex and sophisticated blends of base wines or cuvées that come from a single year’s harvest. In essence, they are very memorable wines that are great to share with your special valentine.
One of the best examples of this style is the Domaine Carneros 1999 “Le Reve” Blanc de Blancs ($55), a sophisticated cuvée made with six different clones of chardonnay grown on the winery’s estate property.
The 1999 Le Reve (“the dream” in French) is the eighth vintage made since the winery was started in 1987 as part of a joint venture between Champagne Taittinger and the Kobrand Corporation, a New York-based wine import company. This wine features a combination of bright floral aromas, exotic flavors of passion fruit, pineapple and mango, Meyer lemon zest, ginger spice, vanilla, and a toasty note on the finish. In a nutshell, it’s a sparkling wine with a lot of personality!
“We’re not making Champagne, nor are we making Burgundy,” said Eileen Crane, winemaker/president of Domaine Carneros. “Instead we are making complex wines that are true to the unique landscape and climate that Carneros has to offer.”
Another great example is the Gloria Ferrer 1996 Carneros Cuvée ($45), an elegant wine featuring bright flavors of green apple, Asian pears, citrus, toasted almonds, subtle nuances of ginger spice and citrus, and long, crisp finish.
This wine was made with 58 percent pinot noir and 42 percent chardonnay grapes, which were picked and whole-pressed. After being blended, a combination of the base wines, active yeast and sugar was stored inside each individual bottle. This classic process of secondary fermentation took nearly eight years to complete.
David Brown, the marketing director for Gloria Ferrer, said the finished product was worth the wait. He describes the lovely effervescent wine as having a “sixth sense,” or a romantic quality that goes beyond sight, smell, taste, sound, and feel.
“It is that other sense that goes along with celebration or seduction that is stimulated by the popping of the cork,” he said.
Another vintage sparkler to look for is the Domaine Chandon 1996 Vintage Brut ($50), a lovely blend of 75 percent pinot noir, 23 percent chardonnay, and 2 percent pinot meunier, which features a combination of fruity and nutty aromas, bright flavors of apricots, white peaches, a touch of fresh acidity and a lingering finish.
Outside of Carneros, other examples of these types of sophisticated sparkling wines include Iron Horse 2000 (Green Valley, $30), J Wine Co. 1999 (Russian River Valley, $30), Mumm-Napa 1998 DVX (Napa Valley, $45) and the Schramsberg 1999 Brut Reserve (multiple appellations, $65). All of the wines mentioned are current releases and can be purchased at the winery tasting rooms, fine restaurants and retail wine shops.
In general, these wines complement many styles of cuisine, including classic hors d’oeurves such as Dungeness crab cakes, fresh oysters or caviar; main dishes such as prawns, salmon, Ahi tuna, roasted duck or chicken with a hint of citrus; and a wide range of soft cheeses.
From the service angle, it is best to chill each bottle to 45-50 degrees, either in the fridge or a bucket of ice before serving. And most importantly, remember that these special sparkling wines are not only reserved for holidays and celebrations, but tasty enough to be enjoyed on all occasions!
Christopher Sawyer is an international wine writer, wine judge, and sommelier at Carneros Bistro at The Lodge at Sonoma. This Spring, Sawyer will become the world’s first official film festival sommelier at Sonoma Valley Film Festival’s Cinema Epicuria, April 5-9. He is a Sonoma County native.
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