The Sparkling American

The traditional “pop” heard at end-of-year parties may be generated by any number of sparkling wines: buck-ninety-nine domestic fizzy, where the bottle is worth more than the liquid, all the way up to C-noters in velvet-lined boxes from unpronounceable places.

French Champagne is the popular choice to toast in the New Year, but a number of factors strongly indicate that this might be the year of the premium California bubbly.

The main reason is quality. After more than two decades of hunting for the right formulas, California winemakers can truthfully say they finally make premium sparkling wine. Today it may be rated equal to most Champagne in quality, and it outstrips the French in terms of consistency.

The top French houses, such as Krug, Bollinger, Taittinger and Roederer, still make grand marque (ultra-high-quality) Champagne, but these are wines that sell for $80 to $150 a bottle. Even at the next lower level, their prices are very high--around $50--and what you get is wine that I have found amazingly inconsistent, often with a layer of oxidation that some people call “yeastiness.”

California, the new kid on the block, has come a long way in a short time, with wines that exhibit a lean complexity while still featuring fruit flavors. The keynote of that style, and final proof that California has arrived, was released a few months ago. It is a new product from Schramsberg called J. Schram.

It was 25 years ago that Jack and Jamie Davies came to the Napa Valley, reopened Schramsberg and set out to make top-rate sparkling wine as good as the French. J. Schram. At $50 a bottle, I was all set to write about the emperor’s new clothes, but this wine offers remarkable richness and depth within the delicate fruit framework that California does best. It is simply delicious.

J. Schram isn’t alone at the top, and the good news is that dozens of other California bubblies are better than they have ever been, and most of them are priced so reasonably it’s a wonder Americans haven’t discovered them for daily consumption in place of Chardonnay.

By no coincidence, seven of the top nine brands are owned by European-based firms. And the key to many of these wines is Roger Viron, former Champagne master at Dom Ruinart, who has consulted with a half-dozen California sparkling wineries in the last few years to establish a level of quality never before reached here.

These wines are all significantly better than they were just two years ago--and all can be found at discounts of between 10% and 30%.

By comparison, even the lowest-end Champagnes, such as non-vintage Bruts from Mumm, J. Bollinger, Piper Heidsieck, Perrier-Jouet, Moet & Chandon and Laurent-Perrier, sell for $25 to $30 a bottle, except in the deep-discount shops, where you may occasionally find them for less than $20.

Still, sales of American sparkling wine have fallen since 1985, and sales today lag behind production. Some producers (such as Jordan) have cut production; almost all of them now discount.

Wine industry analyst Paul Gillette predicts this is the year for California bubbly to finally find favor with celebrants.

“I think California (sparkling wine) will do very well this season because prices are very attractive,” he says. “Meanwhile the quality has gone up. Plus, the stigma is off. We’re a long way removed from that Thurber cartoon that denigrated ‘a naive domestic’ wine.”

Comparisons between French and California wines don’t work very well. For one thing, the best French Champagnes are vintage-dated; most California sparkling wines are not. Then too, though California producers speak about making wine to a “house style,” they admit that most of them are so young that this style is in a constant state of flux.

Here is a list of my favorites in various classes of California sparkling wine. Most are priced between $14 and $18 and may be found at discount shops, with exceptions noted:

* Blanc de Blancs: These are wines made essentially from Chardonnay, though a few are blended from Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. A danger with these wines is that the Chardonnay aroma can get too strong.

Scharffenberger ($22)-- An excellent Blanc de Blancs, one of the best in California. The recent release (1988) is a bit richer on the palate than past vintages, with superb balance to match with food.

Schramsberg ($24)-- An older, more complex wine, quite richly textured. The wine often shows a bit more developed, mature notes than some.

Jepson ($16)-- A trace more lemon in the aroma than others, but with wonderful Chardonnay fruit and a silky finish.

Iron Horse ($24.50)-- A leaner wine that offers more spice and delicacy than the above-mentioned wines.

* Brut: This is the largest classification of fine sparkling wine; unfortunately it has no legal definition. It’s supposed to denote a dry wine, but sugar levels in these wines can vary greatly.

Maison Deutz ($13)-- The aroma has a faint toast component reminiscent of Champagne; the wine is complex, with a rich Pinot Noir element.

Iron Horse ($23.50)-- This is a wine for lovers of leaner, more delicate styles of sparkling wine. Faint green apple-spice notes are interesting, but the wine is really better with an extra year in the bottle.

Domaine Carneros ($18)-- A more delicate style of wine with generous lemon/citrus flavors and attractive crisp finish, with just a trace of sweetness.

“J” ($21.50)-- Jordan prefers more flowery, aromatic components in a delicate framework. The mid-palate is rich, but the wine finishes very dry.

Gloria Ferrer ($13)-- Leaner wines, usually with a trace of grapefruit rind and some high-toned fruit and spice. Some may believe the wines are a bit austere, but try them with food for a treat.

Piper Sonoma ($13.50)-- A house that formerly made a steely style of wine, but since 1988 (the current vintage), Chris Markel has aged the base wine in upright wood vats to give them more development, and the result is a creamier, more flavorful wine.

S. Anderson ($18)-- This Napa Valley producer aims for a fairly complex, full-bodied wine with more weight than most.

Domaine Chandon ($14)-- When Moet built a striking winery in the Napa Valley 20 years ago, it made a non-vintage Brut that was fairly rich and complex, softer in the finish than many are today, but an elegant statement. That style has wavered little over time.

Scharffenberger ($16)-- A spicier, more delicate wine than in the past. Well suited for aperitif time or with lighter food.

Mumm “Cuvee Napa Brut Prestige” ($14)-- One of my personal favorites because of an intriguing spice note to the fruit, which is wonderfully complex. The wine isn’t totally dry but is so perfectly balanced it goes well either as an aperitif or with food.

Roederer Estate ($17)-- For the first three years the style here wavered, but the current wine, the best thus far, has superb fruit of Mendocino County and real depth in a softer, generous wine.

* Blanc de Noirs: Wines made essentially of Pinot Noir, so they can be faintly tinged with a salmon-like color or they can be clear yellow-gold. Pinot Noir is a full-flavored grape, and when used to make sparkling wine it can dominate the aroma if not harvested and treated perfectly at the winery.

Schramsberg ($23.50)-- A fine and well-balanced wine showing Pinot with age, where some of the aroma comes out as hazelnuts and faint toast notes. Priced higher than most.

Van Der Kamp “Midnight Cuvee” ($14.50) --A very stylish, deeply complex and fruity rose wine blended from pink wine plus some red wine. The 1988 wine is perfectly balanced and a real winner with foods.

Mumm ($14)-- I love the style. It’s rich and bold, loaded with fruit, yet really complex in the finish.

Domaine Chandon ($14)-- This wine has improved markedly over the years. Today, with its faint roasted-nuts richness and slight hay-like component, it is a California classic. A bit soft and a trace sweet for some but lovely with some food.

S. Anderson ($18)-- A house style that once was more oxidized-yeasty now seems simply fleshy and richer. A fairly full-flavored wine with a soft finish.

Culbertson ($13)-- This Temecula producer offers a wine that is almost rose in color and with a fairly rich, yeasty, bread dough sort of aroma. A simple, but tasty, wine for those who like them fuller-bodied.

Iron Horse ($23.50)-- An expensive wine, but the most recent release, the 1989 “Wedding Cuvee,” is one of the best on the market, with full Pinot richness and depth in a lean and crisp bundle. Handsomely packaged and in great demand.

Among the most successful special blends are the aforementioned J. Schram from Schramsberg, etoile from Domaine Chandon and the latter winery’s Reserve bottling.