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Sparkling Wine Hideaway

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Roederer in the Anderson Valley

When wine country travelers think of California sparkling wine, Domaine Carneros, Mumm Napa, and Schramsberg come to mind. All of these are in the Napa Valley. An excellent alternate choice is the Roederer Estate in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County. It is off the radar for most sparkling wine lovers, but the rewards for the traveler are many. Roederer Estate in Anderson Valley is the California home for the historic Champagne house of Louis Roederer. The 200-year-old French winery of the Roederer Family branched out 35 years ago to establish a sparkling wine house in California. The Anderson Valley environment was the perfect spot for sparkling wine grapes.

The Roederer Estate Experience

Unlike the Napa Valley, the tasting room fees and wine by the glass are very reasonably priced. A tasting fee of $10 a person will provide the tasting of six wines. The tasting includes four Roederer sparkling wines and a taste of their estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Visitor friendly Roederer Estate tasting room in the Anderson Valley
Visitor-friendly Roederer Estate tasting room in the Anderson Valley

The sparkling wine is served in a Champagne flute, the still wines in lovely wine glasses. There are no skimpy pours at Roederer. Adequate wine is poured to savor and contemplate the character of the wines. The tasting room staff is very cordial and visitor friendly. There is no uppity wine-speak here.

The tasting room is high on a hill, affording beautiful views of the Anderson Valley. Visitors can sit in the tasting room or outside in the winery’s patio to enjoy the views. It is a very relaxing experience.

The Anderson Valley has the ideal climate for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Alsatian grapes. Head to other nearby wineries to learn more about Anderson Valley wines. We recommend Navarro Vineyards, Handley and Husch. Another sparkling winery to visit is Scharffenberger.

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Wine Trails, Restaurants, Dining in the Anderson Valley

Where and What is Franciacorta?

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Franciacorta sparkllng wine

Pouring Franciacorta sparkling wine

Where and What is Franciacorta?

You know Champagne! You probably know Cava from Spain. But you most likely do not now about Franciacorta sparkling wine. Where and what is Franciacorta? Franciacorta is an area of Italy that produces a high-quality sparkling wine.  After attending an excellent tasting of Franciacorta in San Francisco, I am convinced that we will see more Franciacorta coming to fine wine shops and becoming very popular in the U.S. It is delicious and rivals the best from Champagne and other great sparkling wine producers from around the world.

Franciacorta sparkling wine

In the Province of Brescia in northern Italy

Where is Franciacorta?

Franciacorta is an area that consists of 19 municipalities all in the province of Brescia in Northern Italy. The largest and closest big city is Brescia. Many wine travelers arrive in Franciacorta from the Verona Airport and then drive an hour to the Franciacorta area.  In 1995, the area of Franciacorta was awarded DOCG status by the Italian government. Vineyard plantings amount to 7,800 acres, and that is about one-tenth the size of Champagne. In March of 2009, the Franciacorta Consortium was formed and consists of 29 producers.

What is Franciacorta?

Franciacorta sparkling wine is a world-class wine. It is made in the same traditional manner as what is done in the Champagne region of France, Methode Champenoise. A second fermentation, which takes place in a closed bottle, creates the bubbles. The grapes used in the making of Franciacorta are Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, and Pinot Bianco. Non-vintage Franciacorta must age at least 18 months in the bottle. In the photo below are riddling racks. Riddling is an ancient craft where cellar workers turn each bottle 1/8 of turn daily and bang the bottle back in place. Sediment and dead yeast cells move to the neck of the bottle by this action.  Read: “How sparkling wine is made.”

Riddling for Franciacorta sparkling wine

Riddling Racks in a Franciacorta cellar

Tasting Franciacorta Sparkling wine

What we find in tasting Franciacorta is an excellent and delicate sparkling wine, filling the sensory modes with many flavors. Subtle apple, pear, and mineral characteristics abound. It is a fun wine but also serious enough for celebrating the best of occasions. Add a few bottles of Franciacorta to your wine cellar. Use the Wine-Searcher.com to find where you can purchase Franciacorta near you.

We visited the Franciacorta region in 2011 while attending the European Bloggers Conference. If you love traveling the world in search of wine, think about this beautiful spot in Northern Italy. There are biking and hiking trails that are beyond spectacular. What a way to vacation! Please see the Franciacorta Wine Tourism Website.

Sparkling Wine Adventures in the Napa Valley & Carneros

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The season of sun and celebration is arriving soon and with that it is time to pop open a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate. It is also the time to return to the beautiful wine country of Carneros and the Napa Valley. Visit one or more of these wineries that specialize in producing magnificent sparkling wines.

Domain Carneros – The Best View
Domain Carneros is located along the Carneros Highway just west of the Napa Valley. The beautiful landmark Chateau sits atop the hillside and provides a wonderful setting for a tour and tasting of sparkling wine. The view from the Domaine Caneros terrace is one of the best vineyard views in all of Napa. Take a tour, sip some sparkling wines at one of the terrace tables and take in the views. It is so scenic and relaxing. Our favorite sparkling wine at Domain Carneros is Brut Rose Cuvee de la pompadour. What a joy!

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If you like Napa you will love Champagne

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We just returned from a fascinating and wonderful three-week trip to France. Our last week was spent in the Champagne Region. If you like visiting Napa, you will love visiting the Champagne region. In spending just one week in Champagne we barely scratched the surface exploring this historic wine region. There are some 300 villages in the Champagne wine region and more than 3000 Champagne producers.

Only three varieties of grapes are grown here, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. These are the grapes used in blending Champagne. The majority of the soil is limestone The vines are grown in rows about one meter apart and are allowed to grow just over a meter in height. The vines are kept short and are constantly pruned. The idea is to keep the density high so the grape production is lower and the vines must compete for the needed ingredients. The vines grow deep into the chalky limestone soil. No irrigation is needed because there is enough rain and the chalky soil acts like a sponge to absorb the water. The limestone soil gives the Champagne that unique character that is found in no other bubbly around the world.

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Valentine’s Day Getaway to the Napa Valley — Ideas

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If you are thinking about getting away to the Napa Valley with that someone special on Valentine’s Day, you’d better think quickly. Although tourism is down in the Napa Valley, Valentine’s Day is always one of the most popular weekends in the entire year and waiting until the last minute can get you in the doghouse. So, you have two things to do immediately after reading this posting. Make a lodging reservation and dinner/lunch reservations.

Maybe a balloon ride?

Maybe a balloon ride?

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Downtown Napa, The Good & The Bad

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Last week we spent one night in downtown Napa. That is not much time to explore Napa but enough for us to discover some wonderful delights and a few things not so appealing for tourists.

The new Avia Hotel is where we lodged for one night. It is certainly a very beautiful venue but so new that a few kinks need to be ironed out. The price for our room was listed at $900 a night on the door. We received an alert from the Travel Zoo and paid $119 for our room. I can’t imagine anyone paying the full price in this economy.

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Mumm Napa Celebrates The 2009 Harvest

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Toasting and drinking sparkling wine is synonymous with celebrations. When Mumm Napa celebrates the Harvest, they do so in a most unusual manner. Friday, August 14, 2009 was the first official day of harvest for Mumm and when the first grapes arrive at the Mumm crushpad it’s cause for a jubilant celebration for all employees.

At 6.am that morning the harvest crew began picking Pinot Noir grapes at the Game Farm Vineyards in Oakville. The harvesters fill small yellow bins repeatedly with amazing speed and by 9:30 am the first truck load of grapes arrives at the Mumm Napa crushpad. This marks the beginning of the Mumm Napa harvest celebration.

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Napa Valley Bits & Pieces of Wine News – June 15th

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Amazon Closer to Selling Wine
When New Vine Logistics closed its doors a couple of weeks back many were predicting that Amazon would either drop or have a long delay in launching their plan to sell wine online. Amazon had contracted New Vine Logistics to handle the sales. New Vine Logistics is back and word has it that several key wine industry people (not me, however) have been invited to a sneak preview of the Amazon wine website. For Napa Valley wineries this just might be the help they need to clear building inventory. This is good for the consumer as well, more chances to find the ultimate wine bargain. Wine.woot is cool but Amazon will be fierce competition. My source for this information is from “Tech Flash“.

Events for the Wine Traveler
It is heating up in the Napa Valley with events and happenings scheduled for the summer wine traveler. One of the main attractions is next Saturday evening, June 20th, 6 pm to 10 pm. called the Solarbartion. This event is taking place at the new, chic, and very “green” hotel, the Bardessono in Yountville. Ten solar-powered Napa Valley wineries will be represented. This event features wine tasting, food, and live entertainment.

Napa Valley Vintners Auction
This is old news but articles are still popping up about the auction raising a measly 5.7 million. My reaction: that is a lot of money and not too shabby considering the shellacking most everyone has taken in the stock market and housing market, not to mention how many have been laid off or worked furloughed. Way to go Napa Vintners!

Wine Blogger Conference — Napa Valley Wineries Will Have a Presence.
This is the second annual event for wine bloggers taking place at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa on July 24 to 26th. At last year’s event, the Napa Valley was a no-show, while wineries from Sonoma County wined and dined the attendees. This year it is a different matter with the Napa Vintners taking the entire group of wine bloggers on a day-long Saturday outing to the Napa Valley that includes a Grand Tasting of Napa wines at Quintessa and dinner served at participating wineries. When the conference is over, the Hall Winery has invited bloggers for a tour and tasting and lunch and has negotiated $99 a night stay at the La Rsidence Inn for July 26, 27.

Wine Traveler Lodging Specials
There are many deals to be had at least through the end of June and maybe longer. I went to six lodging websites and found specials at each one. This includes the Yountville Inn, Villagio Inn, Harvest Inn, and Marriott. However, I have found Internet specials are not always the best deal. Contact the lodging establishment by phone and ask them for the best special they can offer you for your dates of travel.

Napa — Unsettling Problems

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With redevelopment projects along the Napa River and the buzz created by the Oxbow Market, you would think that all is joy among Napa businesses, restaurants, and lodging establishments. Not so. The last few weeks have not brought good news to the city of Napa.

One of Copia's exhibits, interesting or humdrum?

One of Copia's exhibits,
interesting or humdrum?

Copia continues to have its share of financial problems. Copia recently announced layoffs and surprisingly their winter hours leave Copia open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Copia store and Julie’s Kitchen restaurant remain open on a daily basis. We stated in a blog post a year ago that on our last visit to Copia we felt that the exhibits were sparse and not very compelling. The most interesting area to us was the vegetable garden and now we hear that the garden plot might be up for sale to shore up Copia’s financing. You would think that with the addition of the Oxbow Market next door, Copia would see an increase in visitors. Apparently, that has not happened.

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Schramsberg – Napa Valley’s Sparkling Wine Icon

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Schramsberg Vineyards is the last of the wineries on our sparkling wine trail to be reviewed. It is perhaps the most interesting and fascinating of the five wineries that we have visited and posted to our blog.

Jacob Schram originally built the historic winery and the magnificent Victorian house in the mid 19th century. After Jacob Schram’s death in 1905, the winery remained largely abandoned. The Victorian house went through several owners until Jack and Jamie Davies purchased the entire estate in 1965. Jack Davies, a successful businessman in L.A. had decided in his mid-forties to quit the “rat race,” move to the Napa Valley and become a winemaker. When Jack and Jamie took over the winery, they had the daunting task of renovated the winery, the house, and the vineyards that were all in disarray. Amazingly, Jack Davies chose to tread where no other winemaker had in the Napa Valley. His mission was to produce the finest sparkling wine in the world. Today, the Schramsberg sparkling wines are highly acclaimed and their wines have been served to nobility around the world.

For visitors to the Napa Valley, the only way to see this historic winery is to call and book one of the five daily tours at $35 a person. The tours are limited to six individuals. The tour lasts about 45 minutes and another 30 or more minutes to taste four sparkling wines and one still wine, a remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon named after the late Jack Davies.

The tour takes visitors through a maze of amazing wine caves. The caves are a little on the eerie side. They are dimly lit and have a mossy lichen that hangs from the top of caves. You almost expect to hear a ghostly sound or see a bat or two. They are the first hand-dug caves in the Napa Valley.


At Schramsberg, the winery does most of the riddling by hand. Riddling is the process that moves the yeast residue in the bottle to the neck of the bottle. Hand riddling requires the riddler to lift each bottle, do a quarter turn of the bottle, and then bang the bottle back into its slot. Most wineries accomplish this labor-intensive job with the use of modern-day machinery. At Schramsberg, one man is in charge of this activity. His name is Ramon Viera and he has been doing this at Schramsberg for 35 years. There is a statue of a frog sitting in the pond out in front of the winery called the Riddler’s Night Out. It is dedicated to Ramon Viera and his amazing skill of riddling sparkling wine bottles with remarkable speed and enthusiasm.

The Good: Wonderful tour, sparkling wines, hand riddling, the hand-dug caves.
The Bad: Tour fee is one of the highest in the Valley.

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