Any day of the year is a great time to enjoy Sparkling wine but in the warm days of late summer, this bubbly wine is particularly refreshing and tasty. Carneros and the Napa Valley have several wineries that produce great sparkling wine. With this blog post we begin a series of posts on some of these. But first, here is some quick information about Sparkling Wine.
Champagne is sparkling wine, but sparkling wine produced in the Carneros and the Napa Valley cannot be labeled as Champagne. Only sparkling wines made in the Champagne region of France can be called Champagne.
All Sparkling wine contains carbon dioxide that has been trapped in the bottle. The carbon dioxide bubbles have been created as one of the products of fermentation. In the photo, the bottle has been capped in order to keep the bubbles from escaping during fermentation. Later, the cap is removed along with the yeast residue in a process called disgorging. Immediately following, the cork is inserted into the bottle, thus keeping the tiny bubbles in the wine.
The two principle grapes used in the making of sparkling wine are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These are cool climate grapes. The climate in the Carneros region is perfectly suited for growing both of these grapes.
Top Sparkling wine producers in Carneros and the Napa Valley
We have heard through the “grapevine” that some growers in Carneros and the Napa Valley expect to begin harvesting sparkling wine grapes next week.