California Bubbly for New Year’s: Should I?

Q: Should I toast the new year with California sparkling wine?

Yes! Patriotism, quality and economy all team up for an affirmative chorus. There is a California style of sparkling wine, but before traditional champagne producers landed here from France and started making bubbly in the state, “California Champagne” was an effervescent backwater.

A little history: Arising from the staggering blow of Prohibition, we had only one quality producer: Korbel in Sonoma county. By quality I mean that they used the traditional champagne method of dosing each bottle separately for the bubbles—creating secondary fermentation. Korbel lost its solitary status in 1965 when Jack Davies when bought the Schramsberg winery in Calistoga and decided to specialize. These California Champagnes were certainly good, but they played about twelfth fiddle to the French version—I mean the original version.

Schramsberg was the better of the two, but only a few people knew about it because it had small production. One of those people was President Richard M. Nixon, who, lest we forget, hailed from our fair state. So when he went to China in 1972, guess whose “champagne” he took for toasting those Communists? Schramsberg. Suddenly interest in our stateside sparklers perked up.

The original producers heard the buzz and began to get jealous enough that they set up subsidiaries here: Chandon (1973), Mumm (1976), Piper (1980), Roederer (1982) and Tattinger (1987). The sparklers that they have been making locally are rounder, riper and more full-bodied than what they make back home. More like Schramsberg, in other words, because that’s our California style, with our warmer climate and different grape varieties. It is just as good as the original version, but different.

So when you toast the new year with bubbly, think California. A vintage-dated bottle of the local stuff will cost less than the standard bottle of original champagne with no sacrifice of quality. Herewith a list of such products that I fished up in local stores, ranked in descending order of preference. All should please the palate.

2007 Roederer Estate L’Ermitage Brut, $40: Very tiny bubbles, in a light golden color with good effervescence. Apple, peach and yeast notes in a medium body that shows a certain reserve, like social class. Dry and thought-provoking finish.

2012 Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs Brut, $37: Pale golden color tinged with copper. Smooth texture with good bubbles. Yeast, stone and kiwi aromas lead to nectarine flavors on the palate. Medium-bodied, rich and delightful.

2010 Iron Horse Classic Vintage Brut, $29: Golden color with fine bubbles. Yeasty nose leads to a full-bodied bubbly with lemon zest, bread and white peach flavors. Dry but not bone dry, rich.

2011 Cobblestone Monterey Blanc de Blancs, $30: Pale golden lemon color, with abundant small bubbles. Citrus, stones and yeast notes in a bone-dry, full-bodied bubbly made from 100-percent chardonnay. This could be the locavore choice because the winery business office is located in Westwood.

2012 Domaine Carneros Brut Cuvée, $40: Pale gold color with fine bubbles. Yeast and citrus in a medium body. Off-dry and versatile.

Formerly manager of a Marin County wine shop, Patrick Frank studied wine appreciation at UC Davis and the Napa Valley Wine Library. His day job these days is writing books about modern art. Follow him on Instagram @PatrickFrankWine.