United States

Question 1

United States

Answer 1

Although the first sparkling wines in the USA were produced in the mid- 19th Century it was another hundred years before this movement finally took off. Both local producers and an invasion of European investors from both Champagne and Cava have guided the evolution of California’s sparkling wine production, and much of their premium produce is still firmly rooted in the Champagne style. Washington State and Oregon also use Traditional Method for their best wines however in these states popular local grapes such as Riesling can sometimes be found in sparkling form.

Question 2

Location- United States

Answer 2

California
Carneros AVA, Russian River Valley AVA, Anderson Valley AVA

Washington State
Columbia Valley AVA

Oregon
Willamette Valley AVA

Question 3

Climate- United States

Answer 3

California
Warm Mediterranean. Sparkling wine grapes grown in the coolest areas where sea breezes or fog lowers the temperatures.

Washington State
Dry, but long sunlight hours and a large diurnal range aid the growing of high quality grapes.

Oregon
Moderate maritime climate. Sunny dry summers benefitting from breezes from the Pacific Ocean and a large diurnal temperature range.

Question 4

Vineyard- United States

Answer 4

Sparkling wine grapes usually picked a week or two before still wine grapes to maintain high acidity. As ever the premium sites will be cool and supply ripe grapes with the required low sugar/ high acid balance.

Question 5

Grape Varieties- United States

Answer 5

California
Predominately Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Washington State
Predominately Chardonnay, with some Riesling and Pinot Noir

Oregon
Predominately Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but also Muscat, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Muller- Thurgau

Question 6

Winery- United States

Answer 6

The highest quality sparkling wines are made using the traditional method. No minimum ageing requirement on lees but many producers will age their wines for a minimum of 12 months, with much longer ageing periods often used for premium cuvees.
Tank method sparkling wines are also made, and some carbonated wines in Oregon.

Question 7

Styles- United States

Answer 7

Brut is the most people style in terms of sweetness.
Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs and Rose wines are frequently seen.
If a vintage is sated on the label 95% of the grapes must come from that year.
If an AVA is stated on the label 85% of the grapes must come from that origin.

Question 8

Carneros

Answer 8

Also known as Los Carneros, a moderately cool, windy california wine region, an ava that spans the extreme south of both napa and sonoma Counties. Carneros sprang to public notice in and outside California in the mid 1980s, partly on the strength of some impressive Pinot Noirs and as much or more because of traditionally made sparkling wines blended from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grown in Carneros. Acacia, Buena Vista, Carneros Creek, and Saintsbury were important producers of still wines throughout the 1980s; Gloria Ferrer, Domaine Carneros, and Codorníu Napa were the pioneer sparkling wine producers following the lead of Domaine Chandon of Yountville (see moët & chandon), which first sourced grapes here. In fact this is one of the state’s older wine districts. Agoston haraszthy planted grapes in it before 1870. A property originally called Stanly Ranch was famous as a vineyard by 1880. However, persistent fog and wind made vine-growing difficult and, when phylloxera struck hard in the 1880s, there began a swift slide into a long night. The Stanly Ranch was bought and replanted in 1942 by Louis M. Martini, but the push that brought Carneros both fame and more than 8,000 acres/3,200 ha of vineyard in 2013 did not begin until the 1970s. Los Carneros (’the rams’ in Spanish) sprawls across the last, low hills of the Mayacamas Range before it slips beneath San Francisco Bay. The larger part of the AVA lies within Sonoma County; grapes from that portion can also use the Sonoma Valley AVA. The smaller segment, in Napa County, is equally entitled to use Napa Valley as an AVA. In addition to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Carneros is gaining a reputation for Merlot and, to a limited extent, Syrah. Many wineries further north in Napa Valley either own vineyards or buy grapes, particularly Chardonnay, in the Carneros district in order to have a cooler climate blending component. Growers and wineries within the AVA have banded together in a promotional body called the Carneros Quality Alliance