The final act: dosage and disgorge

Last weekend we disgorged the Wiemer Blanc de Noir 2006 (Pinot Noir dominated with some Chardonnay). It was so exciting! After riddling and keeping the bottles really cold, it was time for the final act. We had prepared the dosage the night before (this is the wine and sugar mixture that determines the final sweetness of the sparkling wine, added as the liqueur d'expédition), using some still Chardonnay and an addition of sugar. We tasted 3 different possibilities with varying quantities of sugar before deciding on the final dosage - this was fun. It was amazing to taste how the dosage changed/improved the wine and the differences between the quantities. In the end we went for the monkey in the middle, which was rich and refreshing. Less sugar and the wine felt acidic/awkward, more sugar made it too soft and killed the finish.

The Doser.

With the dosage ready to go, we set up the equipment and ourselves - everyone had an important task. Someone to disgorge (uncap the bottles so the yeast plug is expelled), someone to add the liqueur d'expédition, someone to put each bottle through the corker, someone to get each bottle caged with wire, and someone to clean the bottles. I was on the wire cage machine (I don't know what it is really called). The corker puts the cork in about halfway, and then the wire cage machine clamps the wire cage (placed by me) over the cork and the rim of the bottle, smushing the cork down a bit so it has that classic mushroom appearance. This creates a really tight seal on the bottle - keeping the wine and bubbles in. I liked being on the wire cage machine.

Our sparkling wine equipment is traditional, meaning hand-operated, but it works. You have to deeply appreciate this glorious drink once you see and experience all the steps that go into it, when done by hand without fancy modern machines. For all the blood, sweat and tears we should probably charge a lot more per bottle - but it will likely go for around $30. What a bargain!

Princess of Pinot - sparkling and still

Last weekend I visited the Carneros wine region of California, a wine region just north of San Francisco that covers the southern portions of both Sonoma and Napa. Carneros was designated an AVA (American Viticultural Area) because of its soil and climate. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive there, so sparkling wine is a large focus of many wineries in the area.

We visited Acacia Vineyard first, where we tasted a bunch of their single-vineyard Pinot Noir. I liked their 2006 Beckstoffer-Las Amigas Vineyard bottling best, better than the current release of 2007. The Beckstoffer vineyard was very old and they actually pulled the vines out in 2008 because it was yielding so little fruit.

At Gloria Ferrer, a sparkling wine producer owned by Spanish sparkling wine producer Freixenet (you know that $10 Cava in the black bottle?), we had a tour of their facility and tasted some bubblies. My favorite was the 2002 Royal Cuvee, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that aged for 5 years on the lees. This amount of aging resulted in really toasty flavors that I liked.

Domaine Carneros, owned by Taittinger, is a beautiful property that I first visited in 2004. They produce sparkling wine and Pinot Noir. First we had a tour and tasted some of their sparkling wines. The best bubbly of the bunch was their 2005 Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs, their premium bottling. We tasted a few of their current release Pinot Noir bottlings before meeting their Pinot Noir winemaker, TJ Evans, who then gave us the behind-the-scenes tour. We had some pre-sparkling tank samples and then 5 barrel samples of Pinot Noir - all different clones. In California they are very focused on clones and how they differ in terms of flavor and structure. Different lots are often blended with the proportions of the different clones in mind. At Wiemer, we grow Pinot Noir clones 115 and 777. I tried those at Domaine Carneros plus 3 others. It was interesting to taste the differences between the clones and also to compare their same clones to ours at Wiemer.

One of the cool things about visiting both these sparkling wine producers was seeing the machinery they use for riddling and disgorging. This is a gyropallete, which riddles 500 bottles at once in about 3 days. Remember how we were hand-riddling at Wiemer for 3 weeks?

North of Carneros, outside the city of Sonoma, we visited Buena Vista Winery and tasted some bigger reds - a highlight of the trip. Their 2006 Ramal Vineyard Pinot Noir Swan Selection was the best from the weekend. I also liked their Merlot, Syrah, and a couple of wines from the 2005 Atlas Peak collection - Cabernet Sauvignon and Claret (a Bordeaux blend). But I have to say that I only liked the Cab after our server sent it through the Vinturi aerator 3 times, which is supposed to be equivalent to a year of aging in the cellar or an hour in a decanter with each pass - this was after I told him I only like Cabs when they are old.  It is interesting that every winery sells the Vinturi. I wonder if it is because many of the wines in California are very fruit-forward and in-your-face, but some people like their wines a bit more demure, with a little more age on them.

I didn't know this at the time, but Buena Vista Winery got all of their plants from the Hermann J. Wiemer nursery. Everything comes full circle!