1. Colorado Wine Industry Sparkling Wine Exploration: We don’t make sparkling wine.
But perhaps we should.
Sparkling wine tasting, VinCO, 21 January 2016

2. Why should CO consider Sparkling wine production?
Why was Cincinnati considered “the chief seat of wine manufacture in the United States?”
What was the first US made wine to achieve fame and recognition in Europe, c. 1851?
To what grape did Henry Wadsworth Longfellow write this ode:
For richest and best
Is the wine of the West,
That grows by the Beautiful River;
Whose sweet perfume
Fills all the room
With a benison on the giver…
Longworth’s Sparkling Catawba

3. Why should CO consider Sparkling wine production?
Nielson sales data for 52 weeks ending Oct. 10, 2015:
Sparkling wine sales up 10% by $, 7.7% by volume
Sparkling rosé up 11.4% in $, 5.7% in volume
Rosé table wine >$7.99/750ml up 74.8% by $, 71.4% by volume
10% and growing of CO acreage planted to cold- tolerant grapes that are naturally low pH/high acid
Sparkling wine mostly sold by brands and styles and seldom by varietal
Consumer seldom asks what grapes are used to make a sparkling wine
Growing segment particularly among younger drinkers willing to be more experimental

4. Why should CO consider Sparkling wine production?
Grapes with lower sugars, low pH/high acid preferable for sparkling
Lead to greater flavor concentration and more aroma preservation
The goal of grape growing is the highest crop level with the least amount of winter kill
Higher crop loads even desirable for sparkling
Harvesting at lower brix allows more carb accumulations in the vine to increase winter hardiness
Larry Mawby on Leelanau Penn. in MI harvests 2-3 weeks earlier than other growers

5. Examples 1A and 1B
Illinois Sparkling Wine Company (Peru, IL): “Less Champagne, More Campaign”
1A, Base wine: IL White Chambourcin
Whole berry press
TA = 8.1g/L, pH = 3.10
10.6% alc.
1B finished sparkler: Franken’s French Hybrid Brut
Méthode champenoise
Disgorged 12/9/15
12.5% alc.
RS = 1.18% (Australia uses sugar to offset tannins in sparkling Shiraz)
$20.00

6. Champagne vs. Sparkling Wine
If it’s not Champagne, it is sparkling wine
Different processes:
méthode champenoise or méthode tranditionnelle
Charmat bulk process (Metodo Italiano) done in large tanks
Transfer method: 2nd fermentation in the bottle, then transferred to tank for blending, dosage and final bottling. Minimizes bottle variation
Gas injection: not allowed in EU sparkling wines without labeling “adding CO2”
méthode ancestrale, pétillant naturels, méthode rurale: 2nd fermentation in the bottle but without disgorgement; often a bit sweet and cloudy
Blanquette de Limoux (Languedoc) is thought to be the oldest French sparkling wine. Local mythology says Dom Perignon learned his craft here before going to Champagne
Almost every country makes Sparkling wine
Cremant in France (Alsace, Bordeaux, Loire for example)
Prosecco (dry) or Spumante (sweet) in Italy
Sekt in Germany
Cava in Spain

7. Example 2 Von Schleinitz 2014 Riesling “Secco” Dry Style (Mosel)
Alc. 11.5%
$14.99
Perlwein or semi-sparkling
EU regulations require >3 atmospheres ( psi) of pressure in the bottle of sparkling wine
Champagne and most fully sparkling wines are 5-6 atmospheres (twice an automobile tire)
Semi-sparkling wines atmospheres of pressure and include spritzig (Germany), frizzante (Italian), pétillant (French)

8. Champagne vs. Sparkling Wine
méthode champenoise or méthode tranditionnelle
Base wine: highly acidic; often blended in the assemblage to achieve a consistent house style
Liqueur de tirage: dosage of sugar and yeast added to the base when sealed in the bottle for secondary fermentation that creates CO2 and sediment or lees
Bottle aging increases lees character, complexity and settles dead yeast
Disgorgement: neck frozen in salt/ice bath, cap removed and pressure expels the sediment
Dosage added to refill the missing liquid before final corking

9. Example 3
Gruet Blanc de Noirs (American, Albequerque, NM) méthode champenoise
Alc. 12%
RS = 1%
pH = 3.12
75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay
$17 on-line, $13.99 Hazels

10. Champagne vs. Sparkling Wine
Champagne is only from the appellation in France
Employs solely méthode champenoise
Chard, Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier also some Pinot Blanc, Gris, Petit Meslier and Arbanne
Residual sugar, left from stopped fermentation due to northern cold, refermented in the bottle and became sparkling
Thought to be flawed for centuries but no one knew the cause

11. Champagne vs. Sparkling Wine
Champagne, a bit of history
Dom Perignon actually tasked with preventing secondary fermentation
16th C: “still” wine from Champagne shipped in barrels to England
bottles were made in coal fires, so stronger than French glass, and sealed with corks
the secondary fermentation carbonation was not destructive
Christopher Merret pointed to RS as the source of CO2 in 1662

12. Example 4 Monopole Heidsieck (Reims) methode champensoise
Classic non-vintage expression of negociant-manipulant or merchant winemaker
Founded 1785, one of the oldest houses
80% Pinot Noir and Meunier, 20% Chard
Alc. 12%
$45 on sale for $39.99

13. Champagne vs. Sparkling Wine
méthode champenoise dosage:
Brut Nature: unsweetened base wine added, 0-3 g/L sugar
Extra Brut: 0-6 g/L added to base
Brut: 0-12 g/L
Extra Dry: g/L
Dry: g/L
Demi-sec: g/L
Doux: >50 g/L
Brut with wedding cake is a bad combination

14. Example 5
Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé (Mareuil-sur-Ay) methode champensoise
All 3 primary grapes vinified red
This is the standard reference for fine NV rosé
Founded 1818, family owned
Alc. 12%
$90

15. Example 6
Robert Moncuit Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru (Les Mesnil sur Oger) methode champensoise
“Propriétaire de Vignes” indicates a récoltant –manipulant (RM)
Base wine is 2010 with 20% 2009 reserve
30% cuvee is aged in oak, not typical
8g/L dosage
3.0L bottle = Jereboam: less air to wine ration maintains dissolution of CO2 better
$306

16. Colorado Wine Industry Sparkling Wine Exploration: We don’t make sparkling wine.
But perhaps we should.
Sparkling wine tasting, VinCO, 21 January 2016